


Visus, Ignis, et Aurum

by secretkeeper18



Category: Smosh
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hogwarts AU, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2019-10-28 21:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 13
Words: 46,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17794877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretkeeper18/pseuds/secretkeeper18
Summary: “You can make a choice, right here, right now. A simple yes or no.” Padilla paused. “Do you want to continue the path you are on? ...If you continue, your futures become more unclear. There are more variables, more possibilities. I may not even be able to help you at a certain point. You could potentially ruin or save countless lives in your pursuit of the truth. Or you can leave, right now. Your futures will remain certain, and your lives fully intact.”There was a long moment of silence as the three mulled over his words. Mari was the first to speak, face set with determination. “I don’t care what it takes,” she decided, firmly. “We want the truth, and we want justice.”Joven and Sohinki nodded as well, firm as her words. They didn’t have to add anything else; Mari had spoken for all of them.***Basically, a Hogwarts AU with a murder mystery.





	1. Chapter 1 - Mari

**September 1st**

For the first time, Mari was not looking forward to going back to Hogwarts.

She placed her books in her trunk and reorganized all of her supplies so they would fit easily, slowly and carefully, as if it would delay time anymore. She remembered doing this as an eleven year old, eager and nervous for September 1st that she unpacked and re-packed her trunk until her mom came in and yelled at her to go to sleep. She stayed up until her anxiety exhausted her and woke up early enough to pull her hair into twin braids, pull her trunk downstairs with the help of the house elves, and stand impatiently in the foyer, waiting for her parents to wake up. Now, at fifteen, she sat in her bedroom, which felt bigger and emptier than ever before, holding a photograph taken the year before, after a Quidditch game.

Sohinki had caught the snitch and won the match against Slytherin, and his friends had swarmed the field. Joven and Wes had hefted him onto their shoulders while he was cheering and holding the snitch high up in the air, beaming proudly. Mari was laughing at their antics, from her place on Flitz’s back, who she had jumped on top of to peek over the tall crowds. Lasercorn was trying to knock Sohinki off playfully, laughing and dodging Sohinki’s swatting. It was a fond memory, but it made her heart clench.

“Mari!” her mom shouted from outside, pulling her out of her thoughts. “You’re going to miss the train! This is not a good way to start off your fifth year!” Her words kept going, but by then, Mari had stopped listening.

She stuffed the photograph in the chest and slammed it shut, locking it. Amraterasu swooped down from the rafters, landing on her shoulder. He trilled softly, a sad melody in her ear. She rubbed his head.

“I know, Amra.”

Her phoenix let out a couple more notes before flying up and disappearing in a burst of flames. Mari sighed, looking back down at her trunk. She snapped her fingers, and a couple house elves appeared immediately to bring her trunk downstairs. She looked around the almost barren room with a grimace before leaving it without another look back. They flooed directly to platform nine and three quarters, surrounded by a crowd of other parents and students saying their goodbyes as they boarded the train. Mari turned to her parents to at least say goodbye, but they had already struck up conversation with some other parents they likely worked with.

Mari rolled her eyes and dragged her trunk onto the train, snagging an empty compartment for herself. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Joven peeked into the compartment. She stood up, as he looked at her.

“Merlin,” Joven muttered, opening the door fully as Mari launched herself at him. Joven, however much he hated hugs, accepted it without complaint. There was a long moment of silence until the train’s whistle sounded. She pulled him into the compartment and helped throw his trunk up into the compartment above them.

“Have you heard from Lasercorn at all this summer?” was Joven’s first question.

Mari wasn’t surprised he didn’t want to mention the elephant in the room; it had all happened so quickly- they hadn’t even gotten a chance to talk before their finals had been abruptly cancelled and all of their parents had come to collect them. They had written letters throughout the summer- they were the only things keeping Mari sane- but they hadn’t been given a chance to talk to each other all together.

“No,” Mari admitted, twisting her hands nervously. “I tried sending him letters. At first I thought he might not be getting them, but Amraterasu just kept coming back empty handed.”

“Did Wes reply to any of your letters?” Joven asked.

“Not much,” Mari said, looking downcast. “He wrote me once, back in the beginning of break. But you know him- he’ll never let other people see him grieve, even if we’re all hurting inside.”

Joven nodded in agreement, still looking reluctant. Eventually, Sohinki came into their compartment, looking apologetic.

“Sorry,” he said. “My brother didn’t want me out of his sight. It took a lot of convincing to get him to let me come here.”

Mari pulled him into a hug as well. “It’s good to see you, Sohin.”

He hugged her back. “You too,” he said, voice softer than usual.

The tension was almost unbearable. It felt too quiet. Mari loved Joven and Sohinki, but she wasn’t used to this silence. Since the end of their first year, their compartment was full of sound. Laughing, screaming, yelling- something. With just the three of them, the silence was more unsettling than she would have ever thought. But now Lasercorn was MIA, Wes had prefect duties, and Flitz-

“Candy from the trolley?” The lady knocked on their door, throwing Mari out of her thoughts. The three looked at each other. Here’s when Wes would’ve jumped to his feet, eagerly throwing the door open to blow his entire allowance on candy. Slowly, Sohinki opened the door and bought a single chocolate frog. Joven and Mari declined, and they continued the rest of the journey in relative silence.

“Did Lasercorn write to you over the summer?” Joven asked, breaking the silence.

“No,” Sohinki shook his head. “I thought he was gonna come over some time in July, and I kept writing him asking if he was going to. No reply. Also I asked Wes last time I wrote to him, and he said Lasercorn’s been avoiding him at home too. Anytime Wes has tried to see if he was home, his mom says he’s not feeling well.”

Mari and Joven exchanged worried looks.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” Joven finally said. “We’ll see him at dinner.”

Mari and Sohinki both nodded, though Mari felt far more doubtful than she was projecting. Something in the back of her head knew something was wrong.

The rest of the ride to Hogwarts was spent in awkward, idle conversation. They played a few rounds of gobstones, giving half hearted smiles and weak, empty laughs. Usually, their rides were full of excitement and laughter, but Mari only felt tired, like the amount of effort to keep herself emotionally together was crumbling with every fake smile she offered them. And from the looks of it, neither Joven nor Sohinki were faring as well. By the time the train pulled to a stop, the three had migrated to the floor of their compartment, half leaning on each other with gobstones marbles and candy wrappers surrounding them.

“C’mon, we should go,” Mari mumbled, gently pushing Sohinki’s head off her shoulder. He made a noise of protest but reluctantly moved to stand up. Joven followed, face blank and carefully empty. They made their way toward the carriages, stopping only when they heard Wes’s voice.

“Hey, don’t worry,” he was saying, cheerfully to a second year Slytherin. “They won’t hurt you!” Wes reached his hand out to the invisible thestrals that pulled their carriages along. Mari couldn’t see them, and knew Joven only could because of his accident during their third year. She wasn’t sure if Wes could, but he seemed to know what he was talking about if he didn’t. The second year had tears in her eyes, appearing to be in hysterics at the invisible creatures. Mari had a terrible feeling she knew why.

“Hey, Lynn.” Wes bent down a bit, offering the girl a sweet smile. “Why don’t I ride the carriage with you and your friends? That way you’ll know it’s not scary?” The girl sniffed, and nodded wordlessly.

Wes offered his hand and helped the girl into the carriage. Just before he stepped in, he spotted Mari, Joven, and Sohinki. He offered them a regretful, apologetic look, but Mari just gave him a short nod and a weak smile. As much as she wanted to see him, she knew Wes was far too nice of a person to have not gone out of his way to help a younger student, even if he hadn’t been a prefect. And Mari knew he was emotionally as much of a wreck as they were- Wes just dealt with it by distracting himself with his other responsibilities. The three of them took the next carriage up to the castle. Mari leaned out the carriage, gazing at the darkening sky. The bad feeling from earlier just grew stronger.

“Do you guys know who got prefect?” Sohinki asked, desperate for conversation. Joven and Mari shook their heads.

“Other than Wes, I’ve got no clue,” Joven said.

“Professor Raub offered it to me,” Mari added. “I turned it down.”

Joven and Sohinki both looked at her in surprise.

“You didn’t mention that in your letters,” Sohinki said.

Mari shrugged. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal. I didn’t want it. It was supposed to be-“ Then she stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

She didn’t have to. Joven and Sohinki just looked at her with pained expressions.

They parted ways in the Great Hall to sit at their respective tables, something they hadn’t done since their first year. Mari sat alone at the Gryffindor table, surrounded by housemates and peers, but without friends. Joven headed to the Slytherin table, looking around for Lasercorn but clearly unable to find him. He instead sat next to Wes, who had clearly beaten him to the table. Sohinki sat at the Ravenclaw table, ignoring his housemates in favor glancing over at Mari. She gave him a look back, a pained expression, as the first years finished up their sorting. His eyes were full of hope, full of anticipation, for some news. Any news.

The last of the students were sorted and Headmaster Todd took the stage, the Great Hall falling into silence quickly. His normally cheerful disposition was replaced by a grim, solemn expression.

“Welcome back, students, to another year at Hogwarts,” he said, evenly. He was not particularly loud, but the room was silent enough that he need not even raise his voice. “I’m sure many of you are unaware of the events of the previous semester, and have concerns for what it means for the future of Hogwarts. Now the ministry does not want me relieving these burdens onto you, but I find it important that you, as growing witches and wizards, understand what is going on around you.” He paused for a long, tense moment. “Last semester, Amra Ricketts was found on school grounds on the last day of classes. He had been killed by some unknown assailant, that the aurors have yet to identify.”

Whispers broke out in the Great Hall, gasps and gossip filling the air. Mari didn’t look up to meet Wes, Joven, or Sohinki’s gazes. She squeezed the wooden table, keeping her eyes trained on her empty plate. The headmaster raised his hand, and the room eventually settled into silence before he continued.

“His parents were informed and the ministry notified. They have since done a full sweep of the school and have determined it is safe. You have nothing to fear at school, but you should always remain aware and alert of your surroundings. Amra was a gifted student and dedicated Gryffindor. Please give his family and friends your condolences as we grieve as a school together, thank you.” The school gave a polite applause, somberly turning back to their plates as dinner began.

Appetite nonexistent, Mari stood up. She made eye contact with Joven, who nodded. She made her way out of the Great Hall, tapping Sohinki on the shoulder. He, too, did not look like he was in the mood to feast and chat like everyone else seemed to. They met in the abandoned classroom on the second floor.

“Where’s Wes?” Mari asked, suddenly feeling very tired.

“He can’t come,” Joven replied. “He has prefect duties. He needs to guide the first years to the common room.”

“And Lasercorn?” Mari asked, her voice falling, because she already knew the answer.

Joven grimaced. “Not a clue.”

“What the hell?” Sohinki suddenly burst out, kicking a table angrily.

“Sohin...” Mari reached a hand out, but Sohinki stepped away, face furious.

“This is bullshit. A whole summer, and they don’t have anything. I’ve been reading the papers, Mari, and there hasn’t been anything about Flitz’s death. Nothing. What, just because he’s muggle-born he doesn’t deserve an obituary? His death at Hogwarts isn’t front cover news? God- his parents...” His face was twisted in pain. “What did they tell them, huh? They sent their son off to some weird magic school- and it got him killed. The only thing that kept me going, this whole summer, is that I just kept thinking, when we get back to school, it’ll all be over. They’ll have caught whoever did it. They’ll have found out what happened, or even how he died, at the very least. Even if it isn’t on the front page of the news, we’ll find out. They’ll tell us. And they didn’t even bother to look.” Sohinki was breathless, eyes wet with anger and frustration and grief.

Mari swallowed. “I-“ She took a deep breath. “I don’t know,” she confessed, feeling her heart break and her hopes suddenly shatter.

Everything she had been holding onto over the summer fell apart. The thought that at least maybe they would find who had killed Flitz, or that this whole thing had been a bad dream, the last of her hopes crumbled as the three broke down together. She hadn’t expected their fifth year to come to this. When she imagined their later years at Hogwarts, the image was always picturesque and simple. Herself, Joven, Flitz, Sohinki, Lasercorn, and Wes hanging out. Going to Quidditch games. Playing chess or gobstones. Playing pranks. Stressing out about the OWLS. All of it shattered, before her very eyes.

Joven pulled the three of them together, holding each other tightly as they grieved. Through her own tears, she couldn’t see if Sohinki or Joven were crying, but the labored breathing and sniffles gave her enough context clues. Mari finally pulled away, wiping her eyes angrily.

“My parents haven’t told me anything either, because the Ministry hasn’t found anything. The ministry’s a bureaucratic, greedy system that doesn’t care to solve the crime of a muggle-born student. We need to stop holding onto this childish belief that they ever will.”

There was a beat of silence again. After an entire summer of just grieving silently and alone, it felt good- the rush of tears and choked off sobs and the presence of her two friends. Their mutual hurt made her feel better, if even ever so slightly.

Joven took a deep breath, and spoke suddenly. “I think… if we want justice for Flitz...” He looked up, looking at the both of them in the eyes with a determination and intensity Mari had never seen before. “We’re going to need to find it ourselves.” 

* * *

 

_**Five Years Ago, September 2nd** _

_“Shoot!” Mari grimaced, picking up her books frantically. Another boy, around Mari’s age and also wearing a scarlet and gold tie, bent down to help her._

_“Here,” he said, sweetly, holding out her potions textbook._

_“Thanks,” Mari said, smiling shyly. She vaguely recognized him as another Gryffindor first year from the sorting._

_“No problem!” The boy said, cheerfully. “I’m Amra, by the way, but you can call me Flitz.”_

_“That’s a cool nickname,” she said. “I’m Mari.”_

_“Oh, you’re also a first year, right?” Flitz pointed at his tie. “I’m a Gryffindor too! We’ve got charms next. Wanna walk together?”_

_His excitement was contagious. She gave him a small smile, her spirits lightened despite the feeling of being out of place in such an unfamiliar environment._

_“Yeah, sure!” Mari beamed._

_The pair sat together during their shared class with the Hufflepuffs, passing notes and giggling quietly while Professor Raub introduced himself and began their first lesson, the levitation spell._

_“Wing- what now?” Mari frowned, the pronunciation becoming jumbled the more she tried to recreate what the professor had told them._

_“Wingardium leviosa,” Flitz enunciated for her. Mari repeated it, slower, but more accurately this time, earning her an approving grin and a high-five._

_Flitz pointed his wand at the feather in front of him. “Wingardium leviosa!”_

_Not even a twitch. He frowned, a bit disheartened._

_Mari nudged him, and gave him a smile. “Don’t worry, hardly anyone ever gets spells on their first try. My auntie’s a professor in Japan, and she says for the first couple years, precise wand work is super important. You need to swish and flick.” She demonstrated the wand movement, incanting, “Wingardium leviosa!”_

_The feather floated up, causing Flitz’s eyes to widen with amazement. Flitz nodded, a determined look on his face now._

_“Wingardium leviosa!” he repeated, carefully moving his wand to replicate Mari’s demonstration. To his surprise and joy, the feather began levitating as well._

_“Nice job, you two,” Professor Raub congratulated them cheerfully._

_“Ten points to Gryffindor.” Mari and Flitz exchanged matching looks of surprise and excitement._

_“We make a pretty good team,” Flitz said, smiling widely._

_Mari nodded enthusiastically. “The best!”_


	2. Chapter 2 - Joven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Because I like you kids, I’m going to give you this warning.”
> 
> The three leaned in subconsciously, eyes round as saucers. Padilla rarely spoke so bluntly, having never so clearly told them them that their decision here would have consequences in the future.
> 
> His face was grave yet calm as he spoke, “You can make a choice, right here, right now. A simple yes or no.” He paused. “Do you want to continue the path you are on?”
> 
> Mari, Joven, and Sohinki all opened their mouths simultaneously, to shout yes, yes of course we want to continue, what makes you think we wouldn’t?
> 
> Padilla held up a hand again. “Let me finish. If you continue, your futures become more unclear. There are more variables, more possibilities. I may not even be able to help you at a certain point. You could potentially ruin or save countless lives in your pursuit of the truth. Or you can leave, right now. Your futures will remain certain, and your lives fully intact.”
> 
> There was a long moment of silence as the three mulled over his words. Mari was the first to speak, face set with determination. “I don’t care what it takes,” she decided, firmly. “We want the truth, and we want justice for Flitz’s death.”

**September 1st**

Joven returned to the dorms on the first night back at Hogwarts only to be immediately disarmed and swung upside down by some invisible force, held midair by the ankles. He let out a yelp, unable to help himself as he was taken by surprise.

“Ovenshire,” one of his roommates, Thomas Diamond, greeted smugly. Despite hanging upside down, Joven couldn’t help but scowl at him.

Diamond had had it out for Joven since day one. He came from a long line of pure-blood wizards. Blood pure but magic weak, the Diamonds kept up their superiority through name and fortune alone. That, along with a hatred of muggle-borns, and especially muggle-borns like Joven, who was better that Diamond and wasn’t someone who’d keep his trap shut about it.

“Put me down, Diamond!” Joven snapped.

The other boy laughed. “Nice try, Ovenshire. Without your personal bodyguards, there’s not much you can do against me.”

Joven looked around frantically, but Wes wasn’t in the room. Wes had been the main deterrence of bullies within their own house since their first year. That’s when he spotted a familiar face in the corner of the room.

“Lasercorn!” he shouted, relieved. “Tell them to fuck off!”

Joven’s eyesight had never been good. Even aided by glasses, he was almost legally blind and basically colorblind. Hung upside down with his blood rushing to his head only made matters worse. Still, he could make out Lasercorn’s stony face and messy, orange hair. Worst of all, he knew even with his bad eyesight that he wasn’t seeing incorrectly when Lasercorn, without a word shut the curtains around his bed and disappeared from view.

Joven didn’t have the time to let the sting of betrayal sink in. Diamond grinned down at him, along with Church and Lucian, the other boys in their dorms, who had gained interest as soon as they realized Wes wasn’t in the room and Lasercorn wasn’t springing to his defense as he usually did. Joven swallowed.

Church raised his wand. “I’ve been waiting to do this, mudblood.” He grinned maliciously. “ _Silencio_!”

* * *

**September 2nd**

“Holy shit, Joven, what the hell happened to you?” Mari dropped her fork and took his face in her hands, inspecting the wounds.

He winced, slapping her hands off. “I’m fine,” he insisted, sliding on the bench next to Mari and across from Sohinki. They were sitting at the Gryffindor table for breakfast today, but most of Mari’s housemates were so used to it that most barely blinked an eye.

“You look terrible,” Sohinki said bluntly, but Joven could hear the concern behind his harsh words.

“I’m-“ Joven started to repeat himself.

“This is not fine.” Mari scowled. “Who did this?”

“Just-“ Joven’s jaw clenched at the thought of the previous night. “Just my roommates.”

Mari gave him a sharp look. “What?”

Joven sighed, breaking down at the sight of her deadly expression. “Wes wasn’t back in the dorms yet, so Diamond got the bright idea to try and pick a fight with me.”

“Pick a fight-“ Mari echoed, incredulously. “This does not look like it came from a fight! He straight up assaulted you!”

“What about Lasercorn?” Sohinki demanded. “Didn’t he try to stop it?”

Joven’s expression soured even more. “Fucking jackass just shut the curtains around his bed and ignored it.”

Mari’s eyes widened. “He did what?” she demanded, face even more furious.

Joven scowled. “Yeah, then Church and Lucian thought it’d be fun to join in. No long lasting damage, but I’m gonna be avoiding them for a while.”

“I’m gonna kill Lasercorn-“ Mari growled.

“Don’t,” Joven huffed. “Don’t even bother. Bastard won’t even look me in the eye. He pretends I’m invisible. I passed him on the way to the library this morning and he looked right past me, like I wasn’t even there.”

“He’s giving you the silent treatment?” Sohinki asked in confusion.

“No,” Joven said, bitterly. “I think he’s giving all of us the silent treatment. He didn’t try to find us on the train, he didn’t even come to the feast, and he let Diamond and his cronies attack me. He can come to us with an apology first; I’m not going to talk to him until then.”

Mari let out a snarl. “Like hell!” She stood up and stormed toward the doors. Joven reached out to stop her, and even Sohinki made an aborted move to grab her arm, but they both stopped short when she shot them a dangerous glare. Sohinki drew back immediately, eyes wide and holding his arms up in the universal sign for surrender, as Joven let out a sigh.

“Oh, this’ll be good,” Sohinki muttered, then scrambled to gather his things before they followed quickly after her.

They caught up to her as she stopped in the middle of an empty corridor, glaring down at their friend.

“What the hell, man?” Mari demanded, fiercely. “You ignore us all summer, then give us the silent treatment at school, and let your roommates assault Joven. The hell is wrong with you?!”

Lasercorn’s jaw tensed. His shoulders were drawn up, and his fists were tightened.

He was gearing up for a fight, Joven realized, too slowly. Mari’s face was red with fury, so blinded by her own anger that she didn’t seem to notice either.

Lasercorn whipped out his wand faster than any of them had ever seen. “ _Confringo!_ ”

Joven barely had enough time to swipe his own wand up in an upwards arc, blocking most of the power behind the spell. The sheer force of the blasting spell sent them flying back still, but he knew it could’ve been far worse if he hadn’t blocked it. The power behind the spell honestly threw Joven off guard- he didn’t expect Lasercorn to attack them, and certainly not with that level of ferocity.

Joven’s glasses were knocked askew. He righted them, pushing himself up on his arms and looking up at his former friend angrily.

The orange-haired boy was looming over the three, eyes flashing dangerously. “Stay away from me,” he said, shortly and coldly, then turned swiftly on his heels and stalked off.

Mari scowled, sitting up and rubbing her head. “The nerve of-“ She let out a hiss of pain, then stood up like she was about to run after him.

“Relax, Mari.” Sohinki sighed, thumping the back of his head against the wall. “I think it’s a lost cause at this point.”

Mari opened her mouth to argue, but Joven cut her off. “No,” he said, firmly. “I don’t know what the hell’s wrong with him, but I honestly want no part of it. That spell could’ve seriously hurt you, Mari. He wants to be left alone? Fine, whatever. I’m done with him. We need to focus on what’s important now.”

And as much as Lasercorn’s sudden betrayal hurt, the thought of Flitz made it easier to shove those feelings aside and just focus on one task.

Mari grit her teeth angrily, but nodded stiffly, reluctantly agreeing. “Fine,” she said, and stood up. She brushed herself off a bit and held a hand out for Joven to take. He took it gratefully and let his friend pull him up to his feet.

“Nice shield,” Sohinki said, standing up as well to clap him on the shoulder. “That could’ve been a trip to the hospital wing if you hadn’t seen it coming.”

“I really didn’t think he’s be so hostile, though,” Joven admitted, as they turned the corner to the library. By some mutual, silent agreement, the three had decided to skip the rest of breakfast and spend their next free period in the library. “I should’ve been faster.”

“No.” Mari sighed. “Sohin and I should’ve seen it too.”

“I think now we have more important things to worry about,” Sohinki decided. “If we want justice for Flitz, we need to focus right here, right now.”

“Where do we start?” Joven looked at them. “We don’t even have any leads other than what we’ve been told.”

“I’m sure the teachers know something,” Sohinki suggested.

“Yeah.” Mari sighed. “But I doubt any of them will spill. Professor Todd was taking a real risk even making that announcement last night. If someone found out a teacher gave us information, they could get fired. And with Lasercorn being such an ass, we don’t even have an in with the board anymore.”

Joven ran a hand through his hair as they fell into silence, thinking. “Well...” he said, slowly, as an idea formed. “We do know one teacher who might be willing to help us.”

Sohinki looked at him in confusion. Joven gave him a meaningful look, and realization dawned. “I mean...” he shrugged. “It’s a good idea.”

“Who?” Mari asked, still lost.

“Professor Padilla’s always helped us out,” Joven said. “Let us hide in his office past our curfew, gotten us out of detention a couple times...”

“Well, that’s because he can see what’s happening ahead of time so no one can prove that he’s just covering for us,” Mari argued. “He knows he can get away with stuff because of his abilities.”

Sohinki stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder. “Then he’ll also be able to see us coming. Let’s go.”

“Him telling us information would directly be going against orders from the ministry!” Mari protested.

“When was the last time Padilla cared about what anyone else had to say?” Joven pointed out. Mari unhappily crossed her arms over her chest, but followed in suit as they hurried up the stairs to the attic Professor Padilla worked in. Joven was the first to peek his head in, finding their divination teacher working at his desk in the empty room.

Padilla didn’t even look up, not even appearing mildly surprised to find the trio climbing into the room.

“Getting into trouble already, Joven?” he asked, good-naturedly. He put his quill down to look at them for the first time, and frowned deeply once he caught sight of Joven’s face. “Merlin, I thought you’d have trouble this year, but not that bad so soon. What happened to you?”

Joven plopped on one of the cushions on the floor alongside Sohinki and Mari. “Don’t even get me started,” he groaned. “Just gotta sleep with one eye open, is all.”

Padilla looked at him for a moment longer, cocking his head, then said, “Keep in mind, you win every battle you don’t fight.” He only seemed half joking.

Professor Padilla always spoke like that; like he was always making inside jokes, but he was the only one ever on the inside. Still, Joven had known Padilla for long enough to keep his words in mind, otherwise they would likely come back to bite him in the ass.

“You probably already know why we’re here,” Mari said, simply.

Padilla nodded, shortly. “Yes, of course I do. I don’t need to be your divination teacher to know that.” He flicked his wand, causing a teapot to float toward them accompanies by four tea cups. “Tea?”

Mari and Sohinki nodded, but Joven politely declined. Instead, he leaned forward. “Can you... can you tell us anything?”

Padilla waited a long moment to answer, the teapot pouring out three cups. He took a long sip before exhaling. “Joven, you know me at this point. Everything I do is for a reason, right?”

“Right,” he agreed, a bit confused.

“Right,” Padilla affirmed, taking another sip of tea. “Because I like you kids, I’m going to give you this warning.”

The three leaned in subconsciously, eyes round as saucers. Padilla rarely spoke so bluntly, having never so clearly told them them that their decision here would have consequences in the future.

His face was grave yet calm as he spoke, “You can make a choice, right here, right now. A simple yes or no.” Padilla paused. “Do you want to continue the path you are on?”

Mari, Joven, and Sohinki all opened their mouths simultaneously, to shout _yes, yes of course we want to continue, what makes you think we wouldn’t?_

Padilla held up a hand again. “Let me finish. If you continue, your futures become more unclear. There are more variables, more possibilities. I may not even be able to help you at a certain point. You could potentially ruin or save countless lives in your pursuit of the truth. Or you can leave, right now. Your futures will remain certain, and your lives fully intact.”

There was a long moment of silence as the three mulled over his words. Mari was the first to speak, face set with determination. “I don’t care what it takes,” she decided, firmly. “We want the truth, and we want justice.”

Joven and Sohinki nodded as well, firm as her words. They didn’t have to add anything else; Mari had spoken for all of them.

Padilla looked at them, then nodded. “Very well then.” He took another long sip of his tea, then said, abruptly, “I need you three to take a long walk around the castle.”

Joven blinked. He cast a glance at Sohinki and Mari, who both looked just as lost as he did. “What?”

“Take,” he said, slower this time, “a walk around the castle. Outside. Don’t speed through it. Just walk.”

“But-“ Mari tried to protest, but Padilla started shooing them out.

“I don’t want to see you three in here again until class on Wednesday,” he said, pleasantly. “Have a good day.”

The trapdoor shut loudly once they were all out. They looked at each other.

“Okay,” Sohinki shrugged. “Guess we’re going on a walk.”

The walk took maybe half an hour, more or less. They walked mostly in silence, their wands out and their shoulders tense. Joven expected something- anything- to pop out and scare them. He wasn’t sure what exactly it was he had been anticipating, like the murderer they were searching for would just be lying in the grass on the other side of the castle and confess his crimes.

All in all, nothing happened.

“Okay, well that was a waste of time,” Mari said, miserably, as they re-entered the castle.

“Total waste of time,” Sohinki agreed, grumpily. “Hey, Joven, don’t you have class right now?”

“What?!” Joven frantically checked his watch, feeling his stomach drop as he realized that his Ancient Runes class had begun almost ten minutes ago, and he had completely forgotten.

“Good luck,” Sohinki said, a bit sympathetically. He had dropped the elective after their first semester, finding the subject to be boring and a waste of his time, so he elected to take Care of Magical Creatures with Wes and Mari instead.

Joven sprinted down the hall, racing to the classroom until he skidded to stop. He tried to sneak into the class quietly, but Professor Zaengar wasn’t having it. “And just where were you, Mr. Ovenshire?” she asked, calmly.

“I was- uh,” he stammered. “I was talking to Professor Padilla.”

Zaengar cocked an eyebrow, not looking impressed. “Curious, seeing how Professor Padilla has taken a day of leave due to illness. Detention, Mr. Ovenshire. Take a seat.”

Joven sunk into the seat in the very back, annoyed and furious. He‘d wasted forty minutes walking around the school and now had detention.

He sighed, aggressively yanking his book out of his bag and flipping to the page the class was focusing on. Today had been a complete disaster.

* * *

 

**_Five Years Ago, September 4th_ **

_“Petrificus totalus!”_

_“Locomotor mortis!”_

_The voices were unfamiliar. Joshua scrambled around, hands flying out blindly to find his glasses. When he finally found them, all he could see were legs standing in front of him. He blinked a few more times, trying to make out who was standing in front of him._

_It was the other two boys from his dorm, the ones who didn’t try to send him packing on a daily basis. He squinted a bit, and saw the other two boys who had knocked his glasses off and sent his books flying were now lying on the ground completely motionless and hopping around angrily with his legs locked together._

_“Wanna try that again?” the boy with the shorter brown hair sneered, his wand drawn and pointed at the other boys._

_Diamond, the one with his legs stuck together, screamed in anger, face reddening. “Watch your back, Moss!” He snapped, hopping away in anger. It would have been more effective if it weren’t for the fact that he looked ridiculous hopping down the corridor._

_“Hey, you okay?” The taller of the boys who had come to Joshua’s aid stuck a hand out, giving him a warm smile._

_“I’m fine,” Joshua took it hesitantly, allowing himself to be pulled up._

_“Yeah, you sure look fine,” the first one scoffed. Joshua made a face at his rudeness, opening his mouth to retort, but the taller one nudged his friend before Joshua could say anything._

_“Don’t be mean, David,” he scolded. David made a face at him, then looked away annoyed, but didn’t reply._

_“Thanks, anyways,” Joshua muttered, eyes downcast._

_“No problem! I’m Wes, by the way!” The long haired boy was smiling, almost obnoxiously so. On anyone else, the excitement and joy he seemed to constantly be emanating with every word would appear fake._

_“Joshua Ovenshire,” Joven returned._

_“That’s a dumb name,” David said, bluntly._

_Joshua scowled at him, then looked at Wes. “Is he always like this?” he asked, without any real heat. David seemed like all bark and no bite, at least to him._

_Wes seemed to agree, because he grinned and laughed, throwing an arm around the shorter brown-haired boy. “When he insults you, it means he likes you,” he told Joven._

_David made a face, but didn’t move away. They seemed familiar with each other._

_“‘Joshua’ is gonna get you hexed when you’re not looking,“ David continued, as if neither had spoken._

_Joshua let out a sigh. “What do you think I should be named then?”_

_David shrugged. “Not sure. Guess we’ll just have to come up with one on our own.” He smirked._

_Wes nodded eagerly. “Yes! A good one will come up, and we’ll use that!”_

_Joshua looked at them with furrowed eyebrows, not quite understanding what they were saying until it clicked. They’d be sticking around him more, waiting for the perfect nickname. And despite Wes’s overly exuberant personality and David’s dry, blunt words, he couldn’t find it in himself to be annoyed._


	3. Chapter 3 - Sohinki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, I bet it was a Slytherin,” someone whispered, causing Sohinki‘s movements to freeze. “Everyone knows they’ve had it out for Gryffindors since the founders age. It was only a matter of time someone took it into their own hands. Bet it was even one of the kid’s snake friends-“
> 
> Sohinki made a move to grab his wand, anger pounding in his ears and blurring his vision. Mari grabbed his wrist, lightning fast. They made eye contact. His wand was halfway out of its holster, while Mari’s free hand was still calmly stirring the purple potion. For a moment, they sat, frozen, waiting for the other to make a move. After a second, Sohinki realized it was Mari waiting for him to make his next move. Her brown eyes looked at him with a grim look of understanding that told him everything he needed to know. She was just as furious as he was. She wouldn’t stop him, no matter what he did next, but she was giving him the chance to stop what he was about to do.

**September 2nd**

“And he’s off.” Sohinki snickered at Joven’s retreating figure, as he sprinted down the corridor to his class.

“Idiot,” Mari said, fondly. “It’s the first day of classes and he forgot to go to class.”

They both laughed a bit at their friend, before heading back to the library for the remainder of their shared double free period.

“Hey, Sohinki!” One of his younger house members, Parker, jogged up to him in the middle of the busy corridor. They were only a third year, but was one of the best chasers on the house team. “Do we start practice this week?”

Sohinki nodded with a smirk. “Yep. On Friday. I’m holding tryouts on Wednesday and we only need a new keeper, so tell everyone they better be ready for a season full of hours of training and me screaming at you guys.”

Parker grimaced, then, in a lower voice, added, “I’m sorry about your friend. But hopefully the ministry will catch the snake responsible.”

Sohinki tried not to react too much, and offered the younger Ravenclaw a strained smile. But how could he even begin, talking about the Ministry’s ignorance and incompetence?

“Thanks, kid,” he said instead. “Now get to class.”

Parker gave him a mocking salute and scurried off. Mari nudged him in the ribs playfully. “Lookit you.” She grinned. “Team captain Sohinki.”

Sohinki shrugged. “Didn’t think I’d get it.”

Mari scoffed. “Bullshit. Like they wouldn’t give it to you. I’ve never seen another student more dedicated to quidditch than you. Other than Topp.”

Sohinki made a face at the mention of his quidditch rival. “That’s just because he’s been seeker since his first year.”

“Yeah but I don’t even think he’s as crazy as you are about the sport,” Mari teased. “You go ape shit about it.”

He laughed, unable to deny it. He could get a bit intense about the game, admittedly.

But something about Parker’s words stuck with him though. It made him a bit wary, for some reason, but he didn’t want to voice his worries. Mari had enough on her plate, and maybe he was just being paranoid.

After their free period ended, they headed to their first class of the day, potions. He was relieved the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors had potions together again, since he likely wouldn’t know anything about what was happening and just let Mari do all the work to save both of their grades.

They sat through Professor Peabody’s lecture on the curriculum for the semester and what they were expected to study on their own for the OWLS. Merlin, he had nearly forgotten that they were expected to take those this year...

Eventually, Peabody sent them off to begin working on a draught of peace. Mari began setting up the cauldron while Sohinki stood up to collect the ingredients from the storage cabinets.

“-good thing we don’t have this class with Slytherin,” he heard one of Mari’s roommates whisper to another. “I wouldn’t feel safe.”

That made him pause. Slytherin had never had the best reputation, but that was a bit of an extreme reaction. Slowly, he gathered the rest of the ingredients and brought them back to their table.

“Start grinding the unicorn horn into powder,” Mari instructed, adding some of the powdered moonstone into the cauldron.

Sohinki was glad to be given the easy jobs, like preparing the ingredients, since it was more difficult to mess up. Mari was good at following the instructions to a T. Plus, it gave him time to listen in on other students around them, usually listening to their mistakes and making an offhand comment to Mari to keep an eye out for that error. Today, however, no one seemed very focused on their potions.

“I heard he drowned in the lake-“

“I doubt it- there’s plenty of creatures in there that would’ve saved him-“

The chatter and the gossip continued. Sohinki ground the unicorn horn in record time, his annoyance at the students behind him fueling his movements.

“I don’t think you need to do anything else,” Mari said, once she noticed he was finished. If she heard the students behind them as well, she gave no indication of it. She was stirring the potion as the green slowly faded to a robin blue. “Hand me more powdered moonstone?”

Sohinki obliged, still keeping an ear open.

“Well, I bet it was a Slytherin,” someone whispered, causing Sohinki‘s movements to freeze. “Everyone knows they’ve had it out for Gryffindors since the founders age. It was only a matter of time someone took it into their own hands. Bet it was even one of the kid’s snake friends-“

Sohinki made a move to grab his wand, anger pounding in his ears and blurring his vision. Mari grabbed his wrist, lightning fast. They made eye contact. His wand was halfway out of its holster, while Mari’s free hand was still calmly stirring the purple potion. For a moment, they sat, frozen, waiting for the other to make a move. After a second, Sohinki realized it was Mari waiting for him to make his next move. Her brown eyes looked at him with a grim look of understanding that told him everything he needed to know. She was just as furious as he was. She wouldn’t stop him, no matter what he did next, but she was giving him the chance to stop what he was about to do.

Sohinki grit his teeth, but allowed his wand to slide back into its holster. Mari relaxed her grip on his arm, but didn’t let go quite yet. She gave a gentle squeeze, and stopped stirring. The potion was now a bubblegum pink.

“I need the syrup of hellebore now,” she said simply, voice soft.

Sohinki handed her the small bottle. “Here,” he said, his voice sounding distant even to himself.

They worked in silence for the rest of the period, Sohinki handing her the ingredients as she needed them, carefully stirring the potion according to the instructions and lowering the fire’s intensity when it required it. They ignored the rest of the class, content to just remain in their bubble for the remainder of the period. They finished early, as usual, and allowed Professor Peabody bottled and inspected their potion.

“Perfect, as usual, Takahashi, Sohinki,” he praised, writing something down in his notes. Sohinki’s eyes flashed back to the girls still giggling and whispering together over their potion. It was white, so they were nearly done as well. He made eye contact with Mari, then nodded his head bit to the girls. She rolled her eyes, immediately catching onto what he was getting at.

“Oh, Professor,” she began, capturing Peabody’s attention immediately. “I actually had a few questions about next week’s potions…”

Sohinki retreated to his seat and feigned gathering his supplies. Not like it mattered; no one looked up or in his direction. He bent down to pick up his bag, let his wand slip into his hand, and discretely pointed it to the girls’ cauldron. He whispered, “ _Maxima_.”

The girls let out simultaneous screams, stumbling back as their potion was immediately ruined. Sohinki pulled his bag over his shoulder and slipped out of the potions room alongside Mari, who had stepped out as soon as Peabody was distracted by the growing fire.

They retreated from the dungeons, the sound of Peabody shouting at the girls in the background.

“That was dangerous,” Mari said, offhandedly. “That potion could’ve set their robes on fire.”

“That was the goal,” Sohinki told her, wryly. “They deserved it.”

A beat of silence, and Sohinki realized Mari hadn’t continued walking. He stopped as well, turning to face the grim faced Gryffindor.

“They could be right, you know,” Mari whispered, her words like a shout in the empty corridor.

“Don’t say that,” Sohinki said, a bit harshly. “Joven would never-“

“I’m not talking about Joven,” Mari cut him off. “Not even Wes. I get that he’s busy- he’s always cared way too much about people, especially people he thinks are under his protection. But Lasercorn- he didn’t write to any of us all summer. He ignores Joven when his roommates decide to curse him. He’s avoiding us, and told us to stay away. He sent a blasting curse at us, for Merlin’s sake. Sohin, you need to admit that it’s at least a little suspicious.”

“He would never,” Sohinki snapped, instinctively. “Flitz was his friend. Lasercorn’s probably just going through something right now. You know his home life-“

“I know,” Mari said, grimly, “which is why I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt. But if we want to find out who- who killed Flitz, we can’t look at this like friends. We need to look at it from an outside point of view. And much as I hate to say it, but they’ve sort of got a point. A lot of Slytherins would have motivation enough to kill Flitz. Maybe not Lasercorn, but it’s not improbable that the guy we’re looking for is a Slytherin.”

Sohinki hated her logic. He hated that Mari was probably right. He hated that he knew that she was probably right.

He took a deep breath. “We’re not telling Joven,” he said. She nodded as well, and that was that.

“We’re not telling Joven,” she agreed, and it was like something had snapped into place, and the wheels of fate began turning. Sohinki wished he could take it back, but he knew it wouldn’t matter even if he could.

He thought back to Professor Padilla’s warning. They had so quickly jumped behind Mari and her determination to find justice for Flitz, almost completely disregarding the fact that he had given them a warning in the first place. Professor Padilla did not give such overt warnings usually; it was not a good sign that he had told them directly what their future would have in store.

Sohinki walked down the corridor, Mari at his side, wondering if they had made the right choice, and if this choice was going to be their downfall.

* * *

**_Five Years Ago, July 25th_ **

_Sohinki awoke to frantic knocking on his door. He sat up, rubbing his eyes blearily as the door burst open. Joshua was in his room, shaking his bed excitedly. “Dude!” He was beaming._

_“What?” Sohinki grumped, glancing at the clock. It was the middle of summer and Joven was busting his bedroom door open at nine in the morning?_

_“I got it!” Joshua was grinning, holding up an envelope triumphantly. “Just like you said.”_

_“I told you,” he yawned. “Now get out. I’m trying to sleep.”_

_Joshua pouted. “It’s not my fault you spent the whole night playing video games.” He flopped on his bed, the mattress bouncing from his weight. Sohinki pulled the pillow over his head in response._

_“C’mon!” Joshua badgered him. “Let’s go!”_

_“Go where?” Sohinki grumbled._

_“Diagon Alley!” Joshua was bouncing again. “You said you’d be the first to introduce me to everything magical as soon as I got confirmation. Well? Let’s go!”_

_Sohinki sat up, scowling, but his face softened at the expression on Joshua’s face. He hadn’t seen his friend this excited in a long time, and he knew that he has been looking forward to this day since Sohinki’s parents had sat down with Joshua and his mom to explain that he was a wizard. Ever since then, Joshua had been relentlessly questioning Sohinki about the Wizarding World._

_“Fine, fine,” Sohinki swung his legs off the bed and stood up. “Wait for me downstairs. I’ll show you how wizards get from place to place once I get out of my pajamas_.”

_Sohinki finished dressing for the day and jogged down the stairs, where Joshua was sitting at his kitchen table with Sohinki’s dad. His mother was at the stove, cooking breakfast while his father was editing an article for their magazine, The Quill._

_“Morning, Matt!” She smiled, and turned. “I heard Joshua got his letter.”_

_“Yeah,” Sohinki nodded. “I’m gonna show him how to floo, and take him around Diagon Alley, if that’s okay.”_

_His mother nodded. “Sure, just be home for dinner tonight.”_

_“You may as well buy your school supplies while you’re there,” his dad added, throwing a wink at Sohinki secretively. “Make sure you boys get everything.”_

_Sohinki nodded, pulling Joshua’s arm toward the fireplace._

_“My mom didn’t give me any money,” Joshua protested._

_“Don’t worry about it,” Sohinki dismissed. “Muggleborns are usually given a scholarship that covers first year supplies to give the muggle parents time to figure out how to convert muggle money to wizarding money. For now, I’m gonna teach you how to use the floo.” Sohinki gestured to the fireplace, and Joshua eyed it speculatively._

_“We’re doing what?” he asked._

_“I told you,” Sohinki said, grabbing the small pot of floo powder from the fireplace mantle. “I’m teaching you how to floo. All you have to do if stand in the fireplace and clearly say the name of the place you want to go to, then throw down the powder. We’ll be flooing to the Leaky Cauldron. It’s a pub that leads to Diagon Alley.” He took a small handful of powder and held out the pot to his friend._

_Joshua nodded, hesitantly following his friend’s example and taking a pinch of the floo powder. Sohinki stepped up to the fireplace first, and spoke clearly, “The Leaky Cauldron!” He threw down the powder, and watched the harmless flames lick around his vision the last thing he saw before casually stepping out of the fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron was the stunned look on Joshua’s face._

_He waited several long moments before Joshua finally came tumbling out of the fireplace._

_“Oof!” Joshua landed on his front, gasping for breath. “That was insane!”_

_Sohinki laughed a bit, and held his hand out. “Here,” he said. Joshua took it gratefully and stood up, adjusting his glasses so he could survey the room. His eyes widened as he took in every detail._

_“C’mon,” Sohinki said, tugging on his friend’s arm to get his attention. He led him through the back door where a blank, brick wall stood before them._

_“What’re we doing here?” Joshua asked, curious and confused._

_“Watch this.” Sohinki smirked and tapped the bricks in a sequence he had long since memorized. Suddenly, the bricks sprung to life and began to separate, revealing a long, winding bath down Diagon Alley._

_“Whoa...” Joshua breathed, taking a hesitant step forward and looking around with amazement._

_“Welcome to Diagon Alley,” Sohinki said, grinning wildly. They walked further into the alley, Joshua’s head snapping left and right to take in every detail. It was more busy than usual, which made sense since most people would be doing their school supply shopping around this time._

_“What- where should we go first?” Joshua sounded overwhelmed._

_Sohinki hummed. “Should probably visit Gringotts first. That’s the wizarding world’s bank.”_

_Joshua mouthed the word “bank” and followed Sohinki, looking stunned._

_“Don’t freak out,” Sohinki added, as they jogged up the stairs to the bank._

_“Freak out?” Joshua repeated, as they stepped into the bank. His jaw then dropped, taking in the sight of dozens of goblins working busily in the main lobby._

_“Are those-“ Joshua’s eyes widened._

_“Goblins,” Sohinki finished, nodding a bit in amusement._

_“Like- like in DnD?” he whispered._

_Sohinki snorted. Leave it to his friend to reference DnD at a time like this. “Not quite.” He chuckled, and walked up to the desk. They were just tall enough to peek over the tall counter at the old goblin on the other side of the desk._

_“Key?” The goblin grumbled, eyes not leaving the parchment he was scribbling on._

_“Actually, we want to open an account for my friend here,” Sohinki said, politely. “He’s a muggleborn.”_

_The goblin peeked up from his writing now, his quill stopping. “Very well. Come with me.”_

_They followed the stout goblin as he led them down a winding hallway and toward the carts._

_“Hold on tight,” Sohinki warned him. Joshua eyed the cart warily, but nodded and followed him, climbing into the cart._

_Suddenly, the cart lurched forward at top speed. Sohinki squeezed his eyes shut, the sudden change in velocity catching him by surprise even after all these years. The cart took them along a track that he had long since given up on trying to remember. Even if he wasn’t feeling nauseous, it still would have been difficult to memorize each twist and turn. He could hear Joshua screaming next to his ear, but he could hardly blame him. They eventually came to a skidding stop in front of a large door._

_“Holy shit,” Joshua whimpered, standing up on shaky legs._

_“Yeah, doesn’t get any easier,” Sohinki grimaced, climbing out of the cart._

_“My name is Ragnot,” the goblin said, leading them through the tall, wooden doors. “I will be in charge of your vault, Mr...?”_

_“Ovenshire.” Joshua was quick to respond. “Joshua Ovenshire.”_

_“Very well. And who will be your magical guardians?” he continued, as he sat at the single, wooden desk and gestured for them to take a seat._

_They did, as Joshua cast Sohinki a confused look. Without missing a beat, he said, “The Sohinkis. Here’s the key to our family vault for identification.” Sohinki fished out the golden key from his pockets and held it out for the goblin._

_He nodded. “Very well, I will write up a contract momentarily.”_

_While he did that, Joshua pulled on his arm. “Wait what?” He looked bewildered, so Sohinki finally took pity on him._

_“If you’re to opening up a bank account with Gringotts, you need magical guardians. It wouldn’t be fair to bring your muggle guardians into any situation, since they’d be ill equipped to deal with it if something were to happen,” Sohinki explained. “So my parents were talking to your mom, and she agreed they could be your magical guardians, if you’d like. And I mean- it’s not just for money stuff.” He offered his friend a small smile._

_His eyes were wide with surprise. “You- you mean...” he trailed off, unable to form words._

_“I figured you wouldn’t mind,” Sohinki added, with a slight laugh._

_“I don’t!” Joshua assured, quickly. “Thank you, really.” His voice softened, as Ragnot cleared his throat. He pushed a long piece of parchment across the table for Joshua to sign._

_“Whenever you’re ready, Mr. Ovenshire,” he said._

_Joshua picked up the quill and signed the parchment, shakily and clumsily, clearly fumbling with the strange feeling of using a quill. Even Sohinki didn’t like using quills; who wants to write with delicate feathers when the muggles were decades ahead with the pen?_

_“Very good, I will now lead you to your vault.” Ragnot stood up and led the way to the cart again._

_Sohinki nudged Joshua as they followed. He looked up, looking still a bit shell-shocked. “Hey.” He grinned. “Guess this means we’re really brothers now, huh?”_

_If possible, his eyes widened even further. He swallowed, blinking a few times. “Yeah,” he murmured, sounding a bit choked up. “Thanks, Sohin.”_

_“Anytime, brother.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S/o to Dino in the Discord for helping me a shit ton on the story :D


	4. Chapter 4 - Boze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shayne and Damien brought her to Professor Whittle’s office the next evening and, with only slight hesitation, left her there with the promise to return promptly at 11, once her detention ended.
> 
> “Good evening, Miss Bozeman,” Whittle said, simply. “You will be serving your detention with Professor Hecox tonight.”
> 
> “Really?” Boze asked incredulously, hardly able to believe her luck.

**September 13th**

Boze wasn’t annoyed that she had taken the fall; she knew that getting caught was probably inevitable, and had made the decision herself, so she really couldn’t be annoyed about that. No, what annoyed her was the _manner_ in which she had gotten caught.

She left Professor Whittle’s office with three months of detention ahead of her, but at least she only lost Hufflepuff thirty points. Not that she cared much about the house cup, but getting snarky comments and glares from her housemates for a significant loss of points would be really annoying. She may never see her full prank come to fruition, but at least she would forever remember the look on the transfiguration professor’s face when she accidentally walked in on Boze preparing a prank on the Great Hall. Boze had put Damien and Shayne up as look out, but they had apparently goofed off, considering Boze’s head of house had easily walked through the enormous doors. The enchantment, though incomplete, still stained the enraged professor’s skin and hair bright orange.

She turned the corner of the darkened corridor and saw Damien and Shayne standing before her, looking sheepish.

Boze crossed her arms, cocking her hip, and gave them an unimpressed look.

“We’re sorry,” Damien said, looking so guilty Boze actually felt bad for him. “We totally were keeping an eye out-“

“Right,” Boze drawled.

“We were!” Shayne insisted. “But we thought…” he trailed off, hesitating.

Boze’s annoyance slipped away immediately. “What?” she demanded. “What’d you see?”

Damien swallowed. “We thought we saw- _you know_.”

Boze felt a shiver down her spine. Just from the way he had spoken- she didn’t want to think about it. She decidedly chose to bring the conversation back around; she was not in the mood to discuss the topic of their nightmares for the past several months.

“It’s fine,” Boze finally said. “You guys are in the clear, at least. I told Professor Whittle it was all me. I don’t think she believed me, but she didn’t say anything about you two.”

Shayne looked guilty. “You could’ve told her the truth.”

“Yeah,” Damien agreed. “We could’ve at least kept you company in detention.”

Boze’s lips twitched. “Oh, Damey-boy thinks he could survive hard time,” she teased, patting his arm mockingly as they walked down the corridor. “That’s adorable.”

Shayne snickered deeply. “It’s true, Damien, you’ve never had detention before.”

Damien huffed, and made a big show of adjusting his blue tie and brushing off his Ravenclaw crest. “Well,” he said, with faux-offense coating his tone, “I can’t let my chances of being prefect go to waste.”

Boze giggled. “And that’s why I didn’t rat you out.” She nudged him playfully. And it was true; Damien was a shoe-in to be Ravenclaw’s prefect next year. “Can’t imagine it would’ve looked good if your perfect reputation was ruined. And Shayne’s trying to make quidditch captain next year- I’ve had detention like every day since first year. What’s another two months?”

They both sighed.

“Okay,” Shayne said, reluctantly. “But we’re walking you to and from detention every night.”

“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you very much,” Boze retorted, it was mostly just for show. Honestly, she was grateful for his insistence, and they all knew it. They’d stuck together throughout their time at Hogwarts, but the start of their fourth year had taken the cake. Despite being in completely separate houses, they had rarely left each others’ sides since the year began. Their nightly sleepovers in each other’s common rooms had become such a regular occurrence that their housemates no longer questioned it, and their respective heads of house didn’t comment. Walking to and from detention late at night wasn’t appealing to her, but at least with Shayne and Damien, her thoughts can’t wander and her nightmares can’t take hold of her imagination.

“First detention’s tomorrow night,” Boze said, once the silence grew unbearable. “Whittle said I’m supposed to meet her in her office.”

“She’s probably gonna have you write lines or something,” Damien reasoned, as they entered the Gryffindor common room. It was nearing 3 am by now, so the common room was abandoned, aside from the glowing fireplace. Though, even if someone had been there, most of Shayne’s housemates had already grown accustomed to Damien and Boze crashing there, even if it had only been a couple weeks since classes even began.

Boze settled into the large armchair comfortably, pulling the blanket the school’s house elves had taken to leaving them over her body while Damien and Shayne took the long couches mirrored over the coffee table.

“Did we run out of Dreamless Sleep?” Boze asked, already yawning.

“Yeah,” Damien said, apologetically. “I can try to get some more tomorrow.”

“We’ll be fine,” Shayne assured them, eyes drooping. Boze made a noise of agreement, her anxiety over sleeping unaided outweighed by her exhaustion. With half lidded eyes, she watched the fire flicker before her eyes, her best friends passed out on the couches in front of her. Before she knew it, she had slipped off into sleep.

_“Come on, Boze,” Shayne grinned. “Hurry up.”_

_“I’ve got tiny legs,” Boze complained. “You two better slow down! You can't teach me how to swim without me!”_

_They certainly didn’t slow down. Shayne and Damien were several paces ahead of her already. She could feel the wet grass beneath her toes. The cool, night breeze chilled her, despite it being nearly May. With every step she took, Damien and Shayne seemed to take twenty. Eventually they stood, frozen, before the Great Lake._

_“Wait for me!” she cried out, running to catch up. She finally slowed, panting and breathing heavily. “I told you to-“ she stopped, suddenly._

_“Boze-“ Shayne moved, wrapping his arms around her and tried turning around, as if to shield her from seeing the lake, but it was too late. She let out a scream, one that seemed to echo for miles into the night._

_Damien pulled her back as well, and suddenly, it was like there was too much going on. Her senses overwhelmed, her pulse spiked, and her instincts went into overdrive._

_“Boze!”_

_“Breathe-“_

_“We need to find-“_

_Too many words, too many sounds-_

_It was like constant stimulation to her brain. She bent at the waist, clutching her ears and squeezing her eyes shut. She screamed, “DON’T-“_

_And then suddenly, abruptly, nothing. She peeked her eyes open, but Damien and Shayne were gone. So were the overwhelming senses, but it did nothing to relieve her. She stared out into the lake and the feelings got worse. The silence, the emptiness, were far worse than the constant bombardment of her senses. She squeezed her eyes shut again._

_“Boze…” a voice echoed. She dared not look up, not again. Never again, because she knew just what would happen if she did. Then, something grabbed her by the ankle, and she started screaming._

_“STOP! NO- DON’T- I-“_

Boze’s eyes snapped open.

Shayne and Damien stood above her, looking worried.

“Are you okay?” Damien demanded. “You were screaming in your sleep.”

Boze was sweating, her heart still beating faster than humanly possible, and her hands were shaking. If they could see the wet marks on her cheeks, they didn’t mention it.

“I’m-“ She trembled. “I’m fine, now. Thanks for waking me up.”

Shayne squeezed her hand. “Was it… was it the dream again?” he asked, hesitantly.

Boze nodded ever so slightly, her face illuminated by the few embers of the fire that remained. “Yeah- I-“ She couldn’t finish.

“It’s okay,” Damien murmured, while Shayne nodded. “Me too.”

The three sat there for a long time in silence. Boze leaned her head against Damien’s shoulder and held onto Shayne’s hand like a lifeline. At least until morning, they could stay like this, comforted by each other’s presence and not having to deal with the reality that their nightmares would likely haunt them for the rest of their lives. For now, the only thing that was real, was each other.

* * *

**September 14th**

Shayne and Damien brought her to Professor Whittle’s office the next evening and, with only slight hesitation, left her there with the promise to return promptly at 11, once her detention ended.

“Good evening, Miss Bozeman,” Whittle said, simply. “You will be serving your detention with Professor Hecox tonight.”

“Really?” Boze asked incredulously, hardly able to believe her luck. Professor Hecox was one of the coolest teachers at Hogwarts, capable of making even history of magic interesting. He didn’t give too much homework and his tests were always easy so long as you actually went to class. It was Damien’s favorite class, and Professor Hecox was one of Boze’s favorite professors.

“Yes, for some reason he specifically requested you serve it with him. I will walk you to where he requested you meet him.” Whittle led her out of the office and up to the seventh floor. It was a long walk, but they eventually came to a stop in front of a large tapestry, where Professor Hecox was waiting. He and Whittle made polite conversation before she bade them good night and disappeared down the corridor.

“So what am I doing tonight, Professor?” Boze asked, curiously.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing too bad,” Hecox said, cheerfully. “We’re just waiting on one more student- ah, yes Mr. Ovenshire.”

Boze turned to see an older Slytherin student behind her. She vaguely recognized him as being in the year above her. He was a good head taller than Boze, but didn’t seem to give off particularly dangerous or threatening vibes. He half glanced at Boze, but didn’t pay her much mind other than that.

“Perfect, now we can get started,” Hecox said, just as cheerfully as before. He suddenly started pacing, back and forth, three times in front of an empty wall across from a single tapestry. Boze glanced at Ovenshire, who looked just as lost as she felt.

Boze opened her mouth to ask their eccentric teacher what he was doing, when a grand door appeared in the blank wall. Boze’s jaw went slack.

“A secret room?” Ovenshire asked, his voice going up in volume with excitement.

“It’s called the Room of Requirement,” Hecox said, grabbing the handle of the door. “It changes based on what your want. I call this room The Room of Hidden Things.” He pushed open the door, revealing a seemingly endlessly large room, with mountains of miscellaneous furniture, memorabilia, books, and other random objects.

“Holy Morgana,” Boze gasped, following Hecox into the room and looking around in amazement.

“Whoa,” Ovenshire breathed, looking bewildered. “How did you find this place?”

Hecox smiled a bit fondly. “Oh, Professor Padilla and I- we were pulling a prank during our seventh year, and almost got caught. We were running up and down the corridor, trying to find a good place to hide, when this door appeared. We didn’t question it- we just jumped in. Now that I’m the history professor and I have more open research time, I think it’s high time I started investigating the objects in this room. Who knows? Countless lost artifacts might have been hiding right under our noses this whole time.” He looked around proudly.

“So what’re we here for?” Boze asked.

“You two are going to help me re-organize and categorize the objects in this room,” Ian said, a smug smile on his face.

Both Boze and Joven’s mouths fell open.

“What?!” Joven demanded.

“That’s impossible!” Boze gestured to the room furiously. “This could take years- decades!”

“Don’t worry,” he assured them. “Just for as long as you have detentions with me. I figured you two of all students would be interested in this.”

Boze’s shoulders slumped, unable to form an argument. She did really find this interesting; Professor Hecox’s class was one of her favorites. Damien would probably nerd out once she told him and Shayne would voluntarily get detention just as an excuse to take a peek. A glance to Ovenshire’s face told her that he was thinking something along the same lines.

“Well,” Boze finally said, “this is a whole lot better than cleaning cauldrons.”

Hecox laughed and even Ovenshire cracked a smile, looking at her clearly for the first time.

“So, let’s get started!” Hecox clapped his hands together.

Eventually, they got into the rhythm of categorizing each piece of junk. The first pile was mainly just random bits of furniture- chairs, desks, tables, bed frames. They would levitate the furniture and reorganize them into smaller piles, allowing the floating notebook and quill to jot down scribbles for Hecox’s notes. Finally, they came upon a large, wooden wardrobe, probably twice as tall as Boze. She tugged on the rusty handles, and frowned when she realized it was locked.

“Here,” Ovenshire said. “ _Alohomora!_ ”

The next few moments were the fastest of Boze’s entire life. As soon as the locks clicked, something burst out of the doors, shifting and twisting until-

Boze blinked. _Is_ _that an ostrich?_

An ostrich, about the same size as the wardrobe, let out a mighty squawk in front of Ovenshire. He stood, frozen in shock at the enormous flightless bird.

Boze stumbled back, shrieking, “Is that an ostrich?”

“What the-“ Hecox had his wand drawn.

Ovenshire broke out of his shocked trance to point at the bird. “ _Riddikulus!_ ” He incanted, as it clicked for Boze. _A boggart_ , she realized, with a certain level of relief. Somehow, the idea of a boggart was more relieving than the idea that a giant ostrich had burst out of a wardrobe that had likely been untouched for centuries in a secret room at Hogwarts.

The bird stumbled back and turned to face Boze. It’s body twisted and writhed again until it finally settled on a form.

Boze tightened her grip on her wand. She still clearly remembered Professor Bereta’s lesson on boggarts. It had been a surprisingly fun practical lesson, until it had been her turn. The memory of the boggart turning into a human body full of holes still gave her goosebumps to this day, but it had been cured with a simple flick of her wand.

In the split second she had to prepare herself for the boggart, she never considered how much she had changed since that defense lesson.

Boze let out a scream, nearly dropping her wand in an effort to stumble back away from the body. Her heart felt like it was going to start beating out of her ribcage. Her back hit the wall- there was nowhere to go. It felt like someone was sitting on her chest, squeezing the air out of her lungs. Her fingers were still numbly held onto her wand, but it was utterly useless now. The incantation had died on her lips before she could even fully process what her eyes were seeing. The body didn’t move or inch toward her- it didn’t have to. It- _he_ \- merely stared up at Boze with the same empty, cold eyes that had haunted her nightmares for the past six months. There was nothing in her heard except for a blanket sense of doom, like she knew deep in her bones that nothing she did mattered. She could only barely process Professor Hecox stepping up between herself and the boggart and bellowing, “ _RIDIKULUS!_ ”

She sunk to the ground, still leaning against the wall. Her wand lay abandoned at her feet.

“Joven, lock the wardrobe again!” Hecox barked, turning to Boze and kneeling down.

“Hey- Boze? Can you hear me?” His voice was gentle, yet firm. “Nod if you can hear me.”

It took an unbelievable amount of effort to force her head to move ever so slightly.

“Okay,” Hecox said. “That’s good. You’re good, you’re fine. I promise. Put your head between your knees, and just breathe, okay?”

Wordlessly, Boze followed the instructions that just seemed to float in the air and into her head. She squeezed her eyes tight, head between her knees, and breathed in and out, in the same pattern she had coached Damien through a number of times in the past.

_In for 1, 2, 3, 4..._

_Hold for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7..._

_Out for 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8..._

She repeated this to herself over and over again like a mantra, like the world was imploding and this was her only saving grace. She wasn’t sure how long she did this for, but when she looked up, Hecox and Ovenshire were kneeling near her.

“Are you feeling better?” Hecox asked, kindly.

Boze nodded slightly, still trembling. Her cheeks felt wet; she lifted a hand up to rub at them, and realized she had been crying. No one spoke for a moment, until-

“That was Flitz,” Ovenshire said, face pale.

Boze looked at him. Her mouth felt dry, and she couldn’t respond.

“Were you the one who found him?” he asked, voice wavering and face stony.

Again, just a nod.

More silence.

“Joven, why don’t you take her to the hospital wing?” Hecox said, face set so seriously in a way that Boze had never seen him. “I’ll get rid of the boggart. If anyone stops you, just say I let you out of detention early.”

Ovenshire nodded. He stood to his full height, and looked down at her. There was a moment of hesitation, but he held his hand out. Another beat of silence, and Boze took it, allowing the older student to help pull her up as they headed for the exit.

They walked in silence in the empty, darkened corridors. The ghosts were nowhere to be seen, and the portraits were snoring on the walls.

“Your name is Joven?” was, for some reason, the only thing that could come out of her mouth.

Ovenshire looked at her with mild surprise; whether at the question, or the fact that she spoke at all, Boze didn’t know.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. It’s Joshua, actually, but my friends call me Joven. It’s a nickname,” he explained.

“Oh,” Boze murmured. “I’m Boze, then.”

Ovenshire quirked an eyebrow. “Interesting name you have too.”

Boze shrugged a bit. “Not my actual name. Everyone just calls me Boze.”

“Cool,” he said, simply.

“Was he a friend of yours?” she asked, suddenly.

This time, Ovenshire didn’t look at her. He kept walking. “Yeah,” he said, after a pregnant pause. “Yeah, he was. I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“If it was just me, it would’ve been a lot worse, I think,” Boze admitted. “I had my friends- I’m lucky to _still_ have them.”

“Yeah,” Ovenshire murmured. “Me too.”

For some reason, the simple agreement made Boze feel a little better. The meaning behind his words was deeper for the both of them, and Boze took solace in the fact that this complete stranger seemed to understand better than anyone.

They got to the hospital wing and, immediately, Madame Pam began fussing over her, running diagnostic tests and clicking her tongue in annoyance.

“What happened?” she demanded.

Boze shrugged helplessly. “Just some panic- I’m fine, now, I think. But I could use some Dreamless Sleep…” she trailed off, then tried to manage an innocent smile at Madame Pam’s look of disapproval.

“You three have been taking an awful lot of Dreamless Sleep,” she said, frowning. “Those things can be toxic in high amounts. I hope you’re using them in moderation.”

Boze smothered the guilty look that flashed on her face, but Madame Pam caught it.

The healer huffed. “I’ll be back,” she said, bustling off to grab some potions from the backroom.

Ovenshire stood there awkwardly for several moments, looking unsure if he should stay or leave.

“Hey, could you find Shayne Topp and Damien Haas?” Boze asked. “If you find one, you’ll find the other. They were gonna pick me up from Professor Whittle’s office at 11.”

Without hesitation, he nodded. “Yeah, of course. Get some rest.” He turned on his heels to walk out of the room.

Boze smiled weakly. “Thanks, Ovenshire.”

Ovenshire halted a bit, wavering in the doorway. “Call me Joven.”

Boze’s smile grew a bit, as the mediwitch bustled back in with several potions bottles. “Thanks, Joven.”

“...no problem, Boze.”

* * *

**_Four Years Ago, October 20th_ **

_“Diffindo!”_

_Boze shoved the taller boy out of the way of the spell, only yelping slightly when it narrowly missed her and sliced the sleeve of her robes._

_Damien stumbled, dropping his papers and almost falling to the ground._

_Boze righted herself and whirled around to face the assailant, face furious and wand out. Even a month into their first year and the bullies were still relentless as ever, deciding the easiest targets were the foreign Ravenclaw boy who could barely produce a spark in class and the smallest Hufflepuff girl._

_The boy who had thrown the spell was much taller than the both of them. He wore a red and gold tie, and was smirking._

_“Watch where you throw your spells, Smith,” Boze growled. “Or the next spell is going to ensure you won’t be able to produce a precious heir for your family.”_

_Smith scoffed, “Right, Bozeman, and who’s gonna do that? Certainly not the squib,” he jeered, jerking his head to Damien._

_Boze growled and made a move to cast a spell, but Damien pulled her arm back. “C’mon, Boze, let’s just go. He’s not worth it,” he urged, quietly._

_Boze grit her teeth but re-holstered her wand grudgingly, sending the smirking boy a glower._

_“I could’ve taken him,” Boze grumbled, turning her back on the bully._

_Damien smiled at her. “I know, but he’s so pathetic a detention for dueling in the corridors wouldn’t have been worth it.” He was smiling sweetly while he said it, but his louder tone made it clear the boy was meant to hear it._

_The boy let out a snarl from behind them. “Don’t walk away from me-“_

_“Expelliarmus!” A new voice shouted._

_Damien and Boze both turned around to see another Gryffindor with Smith’s wand in his hands. He was frowning deeply._

_Smith’s eyes were wide. “Oh- Shayne- I didn’t see you here.”_

_Damien and Boze exchanged looks. Shayne Topp was one of the most popular kids in their year. He was constantly surrounded by his fellow Gryffindors. Despite only being a first year, he had been allowed a spot on the Gryffindor Quidditch team as a last minute replacement seeker._

_“Get out of here, Smith,” Shayne said, scowling. “Before I get a professor.” He threw him back his wand._

_Smith glanced at them, sneering, but clearly recognized how outnumbered he was. He slinked away, scowling._

_Shayne watched his dorm mate leave with a deep frown. As soon as Smith disappeared from sight, he turned back to Boze and Damien. “You guys okay?”_

_Boze tugged Damien’s arm, narrowing her eyes at Shayne suspiciously._

_“Yeah, we’re fine.” Damien was smiling._

_“Damien,” Boze said, insistently._

_“Glad to hear.” Shayne smiled back. “Sorry about Smith. I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you anymore.”_

_Boze pulled on Damien’s arm harder, glaring at the blonde. “Good,” she said, flatly. “C’mon, Dames.”_

_Damien resisted the pull, remaining standing still and staring at Shayne. “Thanks. Shayne, right?”_

_Shayne smiled and nodded. “Yeah, Shayne Topp.” He held his hand out for Damien to shake._

_“Damien Haas,” Damien said, then nudged Boze._

_She scowled. “Boze,” she muttered, still looking at Shayne suspiciously._

_The blonde didn’t seem deterred. “Nice to meet you guys. Sorry, but I gotta head to class now. But I’ll see you guys later?”_

_Boze glared up at the taller boy, while Damien nodded eagerly with a smile. “Yes!” He beamed._

_Shayne smiled back sweetly, then turned and walked down the corridor._

_Boze was scowling. “I don’t like him,” she declared._

_Damien laughed a bit. “You don’t like anyone,” he said. “He seemed nice.”_

_“He seemed fake,” Boze corrected, harshly. “He’s probably never gonna even talk to us again.”_

_Damien didn’t seem too affected by her pessimism. “He said he’d see us later,” he said, stubbornly._

_Boze sighed in response. “Let’s just get to history,” she changed the subject, not wanting to argue with her only friend about Gryffindor’s Golden Boy. Damien might be the Ravenclaw, but Boze knew these socialite types like the Topp family. There was no way that Shayne Topp would pay them any attention._


	5. Chapter 5 - Damien

**September 15**

Damien awoke to sunlight streaming in his eyes. At first, he thought they were in the Hufflepuff common rooms, as it was the only house dormitory that emitted so much light. His aching body, however, reminded him just where they had fallen asleep. 

He peeked an eye open, then shifted a bit in his seat. His muscles ached and protested as he stretched out, feeling joints pop and crack from sitting in the same position for hours.

“Yikes,” Shayne said, wincing a bit. “You good?”

Damien yawned. “Yeah.” He had fallen asleep in far more uncomfortable positions since they’d been returned to Hogwarts. The common rooms were comfortable, but not meant for long term sleeping, despite their constant sleepover for the past couple weeks.

He had fallen asleep on Shayne’s shoulder the night before, sitting upright in the chairs at Boze’s bedside. He’d been determined to stay up until Boze had woken up, but the dreamless sleep potion she had taken was clearly stronger than his willpower. Damien looked at the bed before to them, seeing Boze watching them with a small smile on her face. 

“How are you feeling?” Damien asked. 

Boze shrugged. “Better, honestly. There wasn’t really anything wrong physically, but-“

“You had a panic attack,” Shayne interrupted. “You’re allowed to not be perfectly okay, you know.”

Boze’s eyes lowered and she shrugged again. “I wasn’t lying. I do feel better.”

“We know,” Damien soothed. “Ovenshire told us everything.”

Boze’s face lit up. “Oh yeah! Shayne was telling me Joven found you two and told you everything.”

“He did,” Damien said, nodding. “I’m glad he did. If we’d gone back to Professor Whittle’s office and you weren’t there...” he trailed off, but none of them needed him to finish his sentence. They would have completely freaked out. If he’s being honest, he’s not even sure what they would have done.

Zelda suddenly hopped out from under the bed, jumped onto Boze’s lap, and made herself comfortable, purring with satisfaction when Boze rubbed her head.

“See, even Zelda was worried,” Shayne laughed, only half joking.

Boze laughed a bit as well, petting Damien’s cat while she meowed her contentment. Before they’d met, Boze had not been the biggest fan of cats, or even animals in general, but even she had to warm up to Zelda and Freyja, who often took to randomly wandering the castle and appearing whenever they were needed. Shayne often claimed they might be half kneazle, but Damien thought they were a bit too small to be. Either way, they were incredibly intelligent and sweet creatures, and Damien loved them more than almost anything. 

“I’m here, I’m fine.” Boze was murmuring to the cat, but her words were directed to Damien and Shayne. She looked up once Zelda had fallen asleep in her lap, and reached out to take one of his and Shayne’s hands in each of her own.

Damien smiled back, a bit weakly. “We know,” he murmured, grateful beyond belief for both her safety and her reassurance. His anxiety, heightened as it was even before the incident at the end of their third year, had begun hitting massive spikes whenever the three were apart. He wasn’t completely sure if Shayne and Boze felt exactly the same, but judging by the fact that they had continued to make the effort to meet up as soon as their separate classes ended and had taken to sleeping near each other every night, he could assume the feeling was mutual. 

He remembered being home for the first night over the summer, after several hours of long interrogations by both the auror department and the teachers. The head auror had tried separating himself, Shayne, and Boze into different rooms, but that hadn’t gone over well with anyone. He admittedly didn’t remember much about the direct aftermath of the incident, but he did recall the windows of the room shattering and every piece of furniture getting blasted back against the walls as soon as the head auror made the order to separate the three. He still wasn’t sure if the violent display of accidental magic had been because of himself, Boze, Shayne, or a combination of all three, but after that, all the adults in the room had collectively agreed that it would probably be better for everyone if they were interrogated together.

They were then sent home with a vague threat to not run to any papers with the story, left to their own devices to deal with their sudden onslaught of nightmares and emotional distress.

That first night home, Damien had woken up his entire house with his screaming. He sprung upright, screaming and crying from the nightmares while his poor mother and sister tried in vain to console him, Freyja curled up in his arms. The rest of the summer would have been just that, had Damien not noticed by the end of June the dark circles under their eyes and their sluggish movements caused by a lack of sleep from waking up and trying to console him. Then, his sister surprised him with a cat, which he named Zelda, and the guilt increased when it did nothing to quell the night terrors. He finally looked up some spell books in the family library and went about warding him room so no one outside it would be able to hear his night terrors. So the summer finished, his mother and sister believing the therapy cat had helped stop his nightmares. September finally rolled around, and Damien realized just how much of a relief having Boze and Shayne with him would have been all summer. They’d been basically inseparable during their first three years at Hogwarts, but now, it was rare to see one of them alone.

“Damien?” Boze asked, looking up at him.

He blinked, shaking himself out of his thoughts. “Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just thinking. I’m fine.”

Shayne nudged him a bit, offering a small smile. “Don’t worry so much, man. Everything will be alright.”

Damien nodded absentmindedly, but something in his stomach decidedly told him otherwise. 

* * *

Damien, Shayne, and Boze ran into Ovenshire in the library later that day after Madame Pam declared Boze free to go. He had been reading alone in the corner while they were headed to their usual area to study. Damien stopped them, and gestured to the older student quietly. Shayne looked hesitant, but Boze beamed and nodded, so Damien led the way to approach the Slytherin student.

“Hey, Ovenshire,” Damien started. The older boy blinked, then looked at him. “We just wanted to say thanks for getting us, and for helping Boze.”

“Oh- uh-“ Ovenshire looked a bit taken aback. “It’s not a problem.”

“And it there’s anything we could do to return the favor,” Shayne added, despite his hesitation, “Just let us know.”

This gave Ovenshire pause. “A favor?” he repeated. 

Shayne and Damien exchanged glances, but the damage had already been done.

“Yeah,” Shayne said, finally.

Ovenshire hesitated a bit, before lowering his voice and asking, “Boze said… she said you guys were the ones who found Flitz.”

Damien felt his muscles tense. He didn’t have to look at Boze or Shayne to know they were just as on edge as he was.

“Yeah,” Damien grimaced, fingers finding the crook of Shayne’s elbow and tightening his grip, as if to pull him subtly backwards. “We did.”

Ovenshire took a deep breath. “Flitz was my friend. And we just- the rest of my friends- we just want to know what happened to him. We want justice for him, and if we just wait around for the Ministry to do something…” he trailed off, a pained look on his face. “Could we just ask you some questions about that night? This may be our only lead.”

Damien first instinct was to refuse, immediately. The incident had caused months of nightmares and insomnia for all three of them. All he wanted to do was forget it had ever happened.

“I-“ A lump suddenly formed in his throat, and the refusal suddenly got stuck. “Can we get back to you?” he found himself asking, instead.

Ovenshire nodded. “Yeah, of course.” He paused, then held his hand out. “I’m sorry I even have to ask you. I’m Joven, by the way. Just come up to me, Mari Takahashi, or Matt Sohinki, if and when you’re ready to talk.”

Damien took it. “Damien Haas,” he said, though Joven already knew that. It just felt right to formally introduce himself. Something told him they’d be getting to know each other in future. 

“Shayne Topp,” Shayne added.

Boze managed a weak smile. “Thanks again, Joven, for everything.”

He nodded, and the trio made their way to their usual corner of the library.

“What are we thinking?” Boze asked, nervously.

Shayne exhaled, leaning back in his chair. “I don’t know.”

“I haven’t slept longer than five hours in six months,” Damien said, looking at his two best friends with a grim face. “And I know you two haven’t been faring much better. Everytime I close my eyes, that night just keeps replaying in my head. I-I can’t stand it anymore.” His voice suddenly got shaky, his words choking up. “If we talk to them- then maybe-“ He swallowed. “Maybe it’ll stop haunting us, and we can move on with our lives.”

Boze took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She looked at him with a calm face, but could see the hesitation in her eyes when he met them. “Dames, I’m with you,” she said, simply.

Shayne was nodding. “Me too,” he agreed, firmly. “And if Ov- if Joven’s right, then telling them everything we might know is the right thing to do. That kid- Flitz- he deserves justice and his friends and family deserve closure. We may be the only ones who can help them.”

Not for the first time, Damien felt a surge of relief and gratitude for his friends. Boze, for so quickly and easily sticking by him even when things were tough, and Shayne, for being able to put into words his thoughts he usually could not decipher. He couldn’t imagine dealing with this alone, and though he hated to be grateful for his own friends’ trauma, he was glad they were in this together. 

“Thanks,” he croaked. 

That night, when they settled in the cozy, Ravenclaw common room, Damien slept better than he had for months. Maybe it was putting a name to the empty eyes that had haunted his dreams for months now, but the sudden purpose he’d been given to help bring this boy justice had lit a fire under his seat. Curled between his two best friends with determination and purpose in his heart, Damien slept soundly.

* * *

 

**_Four Years Ago, September 7th_ **

_ “Squib.” _

_ Someone knocked purposefully and violently into his shoulder, causing Damien to stumble and drop his books. They skittered across the floor of the crowded corridor.  _

_ Damien kept his head down, quietly picking up his books and scattered, loose parchment. He wasn’t a confrontational person, even if the words were hurtful.  _

_ He struggled a lot with the wandwork during their first week of classes, unable to produce more than sparks from his wand during each lesson. His teachers tried helping him, but the frustrations was beginning to build, watching his classmates perform charms and spells so easily while he struggled to even prove that he was a wizard.  _

_ He spared a glance up out of sheer curiosity. Plenty of people were in the corridor, but were either laughing, minding their own business, or shooting him pitiful looks. He wasn’t sure which was worse. His face felt flushed as he hurried to gather his stuff flusterey, hands scrambling to pick up his books while people stepped around him.  _

_ “Didn’t you hear me, Haas?” The same boy, who Damien could now make out clearly as a Gryffindor first year, sneered at him from above him. “You deaf or something?” _

_ Damien certainly was not. In fact, the boy’s high pitched and naturally loud voice hurt his already sensitive ears. He opened his mouth to tell him off, but nothing came out. _

_ The boy smirked. “Mute, deaf, and magically deficient. Can’t believe they let someone like you into Hogwarts- no better than a mud-“ he stopped suddenly, eyes going wide as saucers.  _

_ “Wanna continue, Smith?” a voice from behind the boy asked.  _

_ Smith glanced behind him, face white. Damien peeked around the Gryffindor, and felt a surge of relief to see Boze standing behind the bully, wand drawn and pointed directly at his back.  _

_ “Because you know as well as I do that I can hex you into next week,” she continued, face eerily calm. Damien noted now, with severe anxiety, that the people around them had stopped pretending to mind their own business and were now openly staring.  _

_ “Bozeman!” Professor Raub appeared from nowhere. “What’s going on here?” _

_ “Sir!” Smith cried out. “She just threatened to hex me!” _

_ “Yeah,” Boze said, coldly. “For bullying my friend.” _

_ Despite the piercing eyes of their peers and the general feeling of panic, Damien’s brain locked in on Boze’s words. My friend. His stomach soared with joy.  _

_ “Is this true, Haas?” Professor Raub looked at Damien now. The charms professor was the head of Gryffindor house, but he was always helpful and encouraging to Damien in class. He managed to nod numbly.  _

_ “Well, twenty points from Gryffindor, and a week’s detention for you, Smith,” Raub decided. “Detention for you too, Bozeman, for threatening a student. But... fifteen points to Hufflepuff, for defending a friend.” _

_ Boze pocketed her wand, looking conflicted. Finally, she just nodded.  _

_ “Everyone get to class, now!” Raub barked. The onlookers scurried away, without another glance back at Boze and Damien. She silently helped pick up his books and loose parchments that had flown about, offering a hand to help him stand.  _

_ “Thanks,” he said, softly. _

_ Boze shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortable but trying to be nonchalant. “That’s what friends are for, right?” she said this a bit hastily, and with a great deal of hesitation.  _

_ Damien couldn’t help but beam, nodding vigorously, his heart light and full of joy. Boze offered a small, but genuine smile at that.  _

_ “Wanna sit with me in potions?” she asked, as they walked together to the dungeons for their next class. Without hesitation, Damien nodded. It was the single easiest and best decision he’d ever made in his life.  _


	6. Chapter 6 - Shayne

**September 16**

Since his first year, Shayne was used to most people in their school falling over themselves for him. To his credit, he’d grown sick of it pretty quickly, which was why he found he liked hanging out with Boze and Damien over his fellow Gryffindors, who everyone had expected to be his lackeys. Everyone expected him to be the Gryffindor golden boy, the youngest son of a famous Quidditch player and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. His two older brothers had already long since made their legacies at Hogwarts, so everyone expected the same from him.

But aside from the Quidditch and the natural desire to do well in classes, Shayne didn’t feel like the rest of his family, who were far more extroverted and people-oriented. He’d gotten good at faking it over the years, using volume to compensate for the desire to just fade in the background occasionally. With Boze and Damien, though, the long stretches of silence was acceptable. He could fall quiet for long periods of time and they wouldn’t bat an eye, or he could make dumb jokes and they would laugh because they thought they were genuinely funny. They didn’t see him as the youngest son to a family full of light Gryffindor wizards, they see him as Shayne; goofy, loud, and sometimes insane, but they also see him when he‘s withdrawn, when he‘s quiet, and when he’s at his lowest. And Shayne would never choose better people to be with him during these moments.

So, despite his anxiety, he found Joven in the Great Hall sitting with Matthew Sohinki and Mari Takahashi, and told them to meet himself, Damien, and Boze in the Astronomy tower at midnight.

Shayne didn’t know too much about Joven and Mari, but he did know Sohinki. He was one of the best Quidditch players in the school, and had already been made captain of the Ravenclaw team as a fifth year. As a seeker himself, Shayne had gone up against Sohinki during several matches since he was a first year, and their victories over one another had always remained fairly even. They had a Quidditch-based rivalry during Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw matches, but outside of the pitch, Shayne didn’t know too much about him.

“I know Mari’s family came from Japan around the same time my family came from Germany,” Damien said, with a shrug, when Shayne asked him and Boze if they knew more about the other trio. “We actually live pretty close, but we’ve never really spoken. Her family is pure-blood too, and her family was of really high status back in Japan. Her parents are ambassadors, I think.”

“I think I heard someone say Joven’s a muggleborn,” Boze said, with a sympathetic expression. “Poor guy. Being in Slytherin’s probably stressful enough, even if you’re not a muggleborn.”

Not for the first time, Shayne was glad Boze was in Hufflepuff, especially since Professor Todd’s formal announcement of Flitz’s death had caused most rumors to spring up about the murderer being a Slytherin. Few dared say it aloud, but Shayne’s heard enough to know what the general consensus was. The suspicion had led the already ostracized house to pull in and stick together even more drastically than they had before; which really says something. Shayne briefly wondered how Joven got away with sticking with Mari and Sohinki, but figured his ostracization from his house meant they didn’t want him anymore than he wanted them.

The night of the meeting, the three slipped out of the Hufflepuff common room, where they’d been staying for the night, and snuck through the corridors until they got to the Astronomy Tower.

Joven and his friends were already waiting for them.

“Hey,” Joven greeted, with a polite nod. “Thanks for doing this, guys.”

Shayne took a deep breath and forced a smile before he could back out. “We’re happy to help.”

 _Well_ ... he glanced at Damien and Boze. Damien had a polite smile on his face, but looked pale already, while Boze looked downright worried. _Maybe ‘happy’ isn’t the best word to describe it._

“We know how...” Mari paused, then swallowed. “We know how horrible the experience must have been, so we really appreciate you guys helping us.”

Damien’s smile turned a bit friendlier toward her, though he still looked nervous as hell. “If we know something that might help find Flitz’s killer, then we have to at least try our best to help, even if it might be uncomfortable.”

“Thank you,” Mari said, quiet and sincere.

“We’re gonna ask you guys some questions,” Sohinki spoke up. “One at a time.”

Immediately, Shayne tensed, and could see Boze stiffen and Damien’s shoulders rise defensively.

“Can’t you ask us at the same time?” Damien asked, weakly.

“No,” Joven shook his head. “You may influence each other’s memories if you hear each others’ testimonies. That’s why witnesses to a crime are supposed to be interrogated separately, and why witness accounts aren’t super reliable. At least in the muggle world that is.”

Shayne, Damien, and Boze glanced at each other, trying not to look more suspicious while thinking about how the ministry had handled their interrogations right after Flitz’s death. Even before this information, the interrogation seemed rushed, and only surface level at best.

Shayne filed the thought for another day.

“We can put up a silencing ward,” Mari suggested, clearly having sensed their concern. “I’ll ask the questions, and whoever I’m interviewing will be able to hear, but the other two won’t be able to.”

Shayne was immediately grateful for her quick thinking and the easy solution. Unlike several other students they’d interacted with, Mari didn’t seem to question their desire to stay together. His teammates often asked why Damien and Boze sat in the stands during every practice. Their respective roommates kept pestering them as to why they hadn’t slept in their own dorms since school started. Maybe it was because Mari knew of the context, but Shayne was glad that at least one person in the school seemed to understand why the three were constantly joined at the hip.

“Who wants to go first?” Joven asked.

Damien volunteered to go first, followed by Boze, who said, “I don’t think I can handle the anticipation of waiting through both of them.” Besides, Shayne didn’t mind going last.

Both rounds of questioning lasted about half an hour. He watched each of them talking, unable to hear what they were saying to the older students but comforted by the fact that nothing seemed to happen. While he waited for each to go up, he sat with the other, shoulder pressed against Damien’s, and knee brushing with Boze’s. Somehow, the simple tactile gesture was grounding, and comforting, for his shot nerves.

Finally, it was Shayne’s turn.

Sohinki cast the privacy wards once again as Shayne fiddled with his hands nervously.

“So,” he said, slowly. “Where should we start?”

“We’re just gonna ask you to walk us through the night,” Joven told him. “Close your eyes, and tell us everything you remember.”

Shayne followed his instructions, allowing his eyes to slide shut and put himself back in his own shoes six months ago.

“Imagine where you are. The things you hear, the things you feel. What can you tell me?”

Shayne squeezed his eyes tighter.

“I- I’m cold,” he said, slowly. “It’s a little windy, I think.”

“Good. What can you hear?”

Shayne concentrated on the memory more. His senses sharpened with each passing second as he considered Joven’s question. “Damien- he’s laughing. Right on to my left. And Boze is saying something behind me.”

“What’s she saying?”

“She’s... she’s complaining. She doesn’t have her shoes on.”

“And why doesn’t she have her shoes on?”

Shayne sucked in a breath, trying to remember. “I-I don’t know, I don’t remember,” he admitted.

“That’s fine,” Joven assured him. “Do you notice anything else?”

“We’re running,” Shayne murmured. “Damien and I, side by side, with Boze behind us. It’s dark, too.”

“Is it night time?”

“Yes. We’re outside, and it’s windy still, but we’re running to-“ He paused, and breathed in deeply. “The lake.”

“What did you guys want to do there?”

“I- I think we wanted to go for a late night swim,” Shayne muttered, confused. “Oh- we’ve stopped.”

“Stopped?” Mari repeated. “Why did you stop?”

“I got a bad feeling. We stopped at the edge of the water, and looked out. Then-“ Shayne let out a strangled noise.

“Shayne? Shayne?!” Joven said, urgently. “Breathe, breathe. Remember, you’re here with us.”

Shayne felt like his heart was going to beat right out of his chest.

“We need you to focus. What do you see?” Mari asked.

“It’s a- it’s a boy. He’s being-“ Shayne’s mouth got very dry. “He’s being lowered in the water by- oh my god-“ his voice broke.

“By what?”

“I don’t know-“ Shayne choked out. “I can’t breathe- I can’t-“

“Shayne!”

His eyes flew open, met with the concern eyes of Mari, Joven, and Sohinki. His eyes were wet, and his hands felt shaky.

“Shayne, are you okay?” Boze asked, as Sohinki cancelled the privacy ward. She knelt beside his chair.

He nodded, feeling weak and unsure. “It was this... this darkness.”

“You said it was night,” Joven pointed out.

“No, no, I mean like... like this entity of shadows and darkness,” Shayne shivered. “Like I would never be happy again.”

Instantly, Boze, Sohinki, and Damien tensed.

“Like- like a dementor?” Boze’s voice dropped.

Shayne nodded furiously. “Yes- now that you mention it. But I’ve seen photos of dementors, and what I remember seeing wasn’t quite like that. The same effect... but different somehow.”

“Dementor?” Joven echoed. “Those creatures that guard Azkaban?”

“Yeah,” Damien said grimly. “They feed off of happy memories and joy. Sometimes, they’ll lift their hood and suck our people’s souls.”

Mari shivered. “We didn’t have dementors in Japan,” she said. “These things guard your prison?” She sounded horrified.

“Yeah,” Shayne grimaced. “It’s the reason no one escapes from Azkaban. Just a few weeks in there is enough to drive anyone to insanity.”

“How’d you remember something like that anyways?” Boze asked. “I can’t remember anything like that.”

“Sometimes,” Joven said, “if a memory is traumatizing enough, the human brain can force itself to forget about it in order to keep functioning normally. It’ll usually take a bit of probing to get it out.”

“How do you know this?” Damien asked, curiously.

“My parents are muggle psychologists,” Joven explained. “I didn’t want to mention it before, because I was afraid it would scare you off for good, but I thought there might be something more to what you saw that night, and I was right. You guys saw a dementor, and your brain decided to protect you from that memory.”

“But it wasn’t a dementor, I think,” Shayne said, with a grimace. “I can’t remember super clearly, but something tells me it was something different- something else.”

“Besides,” Damien added, “if your friend had been given the Dementor’s Kiss, his body would have survived, even if his soul was gone, and the Ministry would’ve been able to tell immediately.”

“He’s right,” Mari agreed. “There’s something else. Some seriously dark magic going on here.”

“I don’t think I can remember much else about the night,” Shayne said.

“And neither Damien nor Boze remembered the shadowy figure like Shayne did,” Sohinki added.

“Is there a way we could access their memories?” Joven asked, looking at his two friends.

“Legilimency,” Boze suggested. “But it’s a very difficult skill to learn, and most legilimens are naturally born with some ability, so it’s more difficult to develop the skills if you’re not a natural at it to begin with.”

“So that’s unlikely.” Mari sighed.

“What about a pensieve?” Damien suggested, looking around.

“What’s that?” Joven asked, curiously.

“It lets you extract memories and view them from the third person,” Shayne explained. “My family used to have one. They’re super rare.”

“Where would we even find one of those?” Sohinki asked.

“Well...” Boze trailed off, gaining everyone’s attention quickly. “I was in the Headmaster’s office second year after I’d gotten into that duel with most of Shayne’s roommates-“

“After I told you to walk away,” Shayne added, but Boze continued as if Shayne had not spoken.

“-and I do remember there being a pensieve in his office,” Boze finished.

Mari looked incredulous. “Are you implying we should break into Todd’s office and use his pensieve?! That’s insane.”

“Well, do any of our families have pensieves?” Boze asked, and, when no one responded, continued with, “Then our other option is to learn the art of legilimency which most people have spent decades training in.”

There was a moment of silence following her words.

“Oh, Merlin,” Joven said, faintly, in realization. “We have to break into the headmaster’s office.”

* * *

“Are you okay, Boze?” Shayne asked quietly, once they managed to sneak back into the Hufflepuff common rooms.

Boze shrugged. “Yeah. I should ask you the same, though. You remembered a lot.”

“Not much,” Shayne said, frowning. “Not enough.”

Damien touched his shoulder. “Don’t worry about it, Shayne. You remembered way more than we did.” He gestured to himself and Boze.

“I want to see the memory, too,” Boze added. “If there’s something else involved, we can’t just quit here. It’s ride or die at this point.”

Damien and Shayne laughed a bit at her phrasing.

“You‘re right,” Damien replied, readily, and Shayne couldn’t agree more.

“We made a commitment,” Shayne agreed. “We need to see it through to the end.”

* * *

**_Four Years Ago, November 1st_ **

_Shayne thought his heart was going to leap out of his chest._

_“I can’t do it,” he said, blankly. He stared at the enormous crowds, screaming and jumping up and down. There were so many people, it was impossible to make out any familiar faces. It was just a sea of people, all sporting scarlet and gold or green and silver._

_“You’ll be fine, Shayne,” Damien had told him, that morning. The anxiety had set in as soon as he’d walked into the Great Hall. Damien and Boze talked him down from a total freak out, but neither of them were here right now. It was just him, and his broom. Even his teammates were scattered across the pitch._

_He’d never felt so alone._

_“You’ve got a job to do,” he told himself, furiously. Find the snitch._

_Shayne forced himself to focus on the task at hand and fly a little higher, surveying the pitch for that tell-tale glimmer of gold._

_“C’mon, where-“ Something caught his eye. Without second thought, he set off with a burst of speed only possible with the newest model of brooms, something he’d gotten as a gift when his parents found out he had made the team as a first year._

_He reached out, but something flew into his vision from below him. Shayne just managed to retract his arm and jerk his broom to the side to narrowly avoid getting knocked off by a bludger that had been aimed directly at him._

_He went spiralling, and once he stabilized himself, the snitch was gone._

_Shayne groaned to himself, frustratedly flying up again to try and catch a glimpse of the snitch._

_“SHAYNE!” A faint shout from below. Shayne stopped, and looked down._

_Damien and Boze stood in the Gryffindor section, beaming at him. Damien was wearing Shayne’s red and gold scarf, and Boze was waving a little triangular flag, with the word GRYFFINDOR written on it in gold script. His heart thudded in his chest, but not in the same way it had when he’d first entered the pitch. The presence of his new friends sent a surge of confidence through him. He spared a moment to grin down at them and wave back, before shooting up and carefully surveying the pitch for the snitch._

_He hadn’t seen the Slytherin seeker since the game began, Shayne realized. He didn’t know the older boy’s name, but  his captain had made him memorize their numbers and positions. He spotted the silver number 08 just wavering in the air on the other side of the pitch, clearly unable to find the snitch as well._

_Suddenly, the other seeker shot forward, heading toward the other side of the pitch. Shayne looked around frantically, and caught sight of the glimmer of gold that the Slytherin seeker has spotted before him. He shot off after it, flying at top speed with his arm outstretched, reaching for the snitch. Just as he felt his fingers closed around it, he felt a body slam into him, sending him flying off his broom and spiraling into the air._

_He screamed as he plummeted, but suddenly felt his body being caught by some invisible force. He stopped a few inches from the ground, and then was dropped to the ground from the shorter height. His heart was thumping wildly, looking around frantically. People were screaming, both in joy and in anger. It took several long moments for him to figure out why._

_Shayne was still holding the golden snitch, which meant it was a Gryffindor victory, the first since his brothers were in school. But the referee was screaming at the Slytherin seeker, who had apparently been the one to slam Shayne off his broom._

_“LET ME AT HIM!” He heard someone roar from behind him. Shayne pushed himself to sit up, and looked._

_Boze was marching down the field with Damien on her tail. She looked furious, her wand drawn and a dangerous glint in her eyes. Damien looked upset too, but more worried than angry._

_“Calm down.” Damien put a hand on Boze’s shoulder as they approached him. “Shayne, are you okay?”_

_“Yeah, somehow,” Shayne admitted, then held up the snitch with a grin. “Even if I wasn’t, it would’ve been worth it.”_

_That did not fix Boze’s mood._

_“Like hell it would’ve!” she snapped. “Your physical well-being is worth more than a stupid game- I’ll kill Bradley-“_

_“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” Shayne insisted, alarmed at her extreme reaction. “We won, and I’m fine.”_

_“If Professor Todd hadn’t managed to catch you with that spell,” Boze grit out, “you could have died.”_

_Shayne opened his mouth to protest more, but Damien cut him off._

_“Hey, everything’s fine now,” he soothed. “Boze, Shayne’s safe now, and I doubt Bradley’s gonna be playing for a long time. And Shayne, Boze’s just concerned.” He held a hand out for Shayne to take._

_Shayne took it, pulling himself up to stand. “I know.” He smiled at the shorter girl, whose scowl softened and her arms uncrossed._

_“Thanks, guys,” he said, as the crowd of his housemates began to flood the pit in celebration._

_“Anytime, man.” Damien grinned. “Now go party with the lions.”_

_Shayne allowed himself to be swept away by his victorious house, as his teammates patted his back and congratulated him on a job well done. Yet his gaze remained on the Ravenclaw boy and Hufflepuff girl, who had so quickly rushed to his aid, and who were now beaming at him from a while away. His heart warmed at the sight of them in a way it did not when he hung out with the rest of his housemates or his brothers._

_As Shayne was lifted onto his teammates’ shoulders and paraded around like a trophy, he realized that none of them had even bothered seeing if he’d been injured from the near death experience, instead flaunting their star player in a manner uncomfortably similar to his parents showing off their sons at the social events and ministry balls he had despised growing up._

_Boze and Damien had been different, though. They didn’t care for his Quidditch prowess or what being friends with him would do for their reputation._

_They cared for him, Shayne, not for the talent or the name, but for him._

_He felt a small smile grow on his face, and waved at them._

_It had taken a little while to realize, but he had made real friends at Hogwarts after all._


	7. Chapter 7 - Mari

**September 20**

The plan was simple. Shayne, Boze, and Damien set up an elaborate number of pranks and obstacles from the Great Hall to the Headmaster’s office during the first half of dinner, hopefully allowing the six of them at least half an hour to sneak into the office and view the memory from the pensieve, plus however much time the distractions gave them.

 _Hopefully_ , Mari thought.

“How do you plan on getting in there?” Joven asked, as he, Mari, and Sohinki headed toward the gold statue of the griffin.

“Easy,” Mari said, simply. “Boze heard the password when she was last up there.”

“What if he changed it?” Sohinki asked, jogging to keep up with their fast pace.

“Let’s burn that bridge when we get to it,” Mari said, swiveling on her feet to face the statue.

They waited for about half an hour before Shayne, Boze, and Damien came running toward them from the direction of the Great Hall.

“Everyone was at dinner last we checked,” Shayne panted. “All the teachers and Professor Todd, at least.”

“Good,” Mari nodded, then turned to face the statue. “Galleon.”

Nothing happened.

“Shit,” Mari cursed.

“Bridge is burning,” Sohinki said, dryly. Mari gave him a dirty look.

“Not helping, Sohin.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Boze groaned.

“Start naming random things!” Joven suggested.

“What’re you, nuts?” Mari demanded incredulously. “That’s not a strategy! We have to think; what would Professor Todd make as his password?”

They all fell silent, thinking hard, before each chiming in with suggestions and knowledge about their headmaster.

“He was a Gryffindor.”

“Oh and I saw in the trophy room that he was a chaser!”

“My dad said he used to teach charms.”

“He’s got a good sense of humor, especially considering how many times I’ve gotten in trouble.”

Mari thought about how well she knew their headmaster. He was fairly young to be the headmaster, but was passionate about teaching and his students. She’d never really had to interact with him. Professor Padilla had once told her a funny story about how he’d once tried to pull a trick on Todd, but it had ended up backfiring. Todd had been greatly amused, as he seemed to appreciate a good amount of irony. Mari bit her lip, a thought appearing in her head. “What about...” she hesitated. “ _Alohomora_?”

There was a loud creaking, as the statue sprung to life and began to swivel and rise, revealing stairs.

“Whoa-“ Damien gaped.

“You’re telling us how you figured that out later,” Shayne told her, grinning. Mari managed a smile back, and the six scrambled up the stairs and into the office.

Boze made a beeline to the pensieve, leading the way.

“Okay, here we go. Shayne?” She held up her wand, looking at the blonde Gryffindor. He nodded, allowing Boze to point her wand to the temple of his head and slowly pull back. Wisps of silver pulled from his head, slinking and swirling around until Boze slowly dragged it to the empty basin.

“You guys ready?” Mari asked, looking at the three younger students. She hadn’t had the time to give it much thought before, but she respected how brave they were. They were just traumatized fourteen year olds, but they faced their trauma with looks of determination.

“Let’s go,” Shayne said, seriously. He was the first to dip his head into the basin, transported into the memory. Damien and Boze quickly dove in, followed by Sohinki. Mari made a move to jump in next, but Joven grabbed her elbow.

“What is it?” Mari asked, seeing his concerned face.

“You asked if they were ready,” he said, quietly. “And yeah, the incident was horrible, and it totally makes sense that they’re so traumatized by the incident. But- are _you_ okay? They were affected by it enough as is, and they didn’t even know Flitz. You were closer to him than anyone. Are you ready?”

Mari appreciated his concern, deeply touched by the sincere worry in his tone. “I’m not ready,” she admitted. “But sometimes you just need to take a leap of faith, right? That’s what Flitz used to say. This may be our only opportunity to find out what happened to him. We need to keep going, no matter how we’re feeling right now.”

Joven gave a hesitant nod, and released her arm. Mari nodded back, and lowered her head into the basin. She was instantly whirled into the memory, opening her eyes to find herself standing upright in the darkened night on the castle grounds.

She could make out three figures approaching. With a slight twist in her gut, she realized it was Shayne, Damien, and Boze.

The boys were laughing, elbowing each other playfully and stumbling in the field while Boze lagged behind, shouting at them to slow down while running as fast as she could. They didn’t look too different than now- Shayne and Damien had both grown a few inches since the memory, and Boze had lost a bit of baby fat in her cheeks, but their faces looked pretty much the same. _Other than-_ Mari’s heart clenched with realization when she spared a look at the present trio. Something had changed in their faces. Physically, they looked relatively unchanged, but it was as if this night had torn away any shred of childlike innocence. It probably did, and that hurt her more than she’d care to admit.

Mari walked up to the lake’s edge as Shayne and Damien approached. They suddenly skidded to a stop, their feet padding in, but the water didn’t make it any higher than their ankles as they looked out into the water, squinting, trying to see in the pale moonlight. Mari had to tear her eyes away from their faces to force herself to follow their gaze. She wasn’t sure what was worse- the sight before her, or the inevitable looks of horror that would soon appear on their faces once they realized what they were looking at. Distantly, she could hear the memory-Boze scream, and she felt herself opening her own mouth and try to mimic the sound, only for nothing to come out.

Flitz’s body lay prone on the lake’s, a shadow twisting and curling around it, half in the air and half under the water. To Mari’s horror, his eyes were wide open, empty and devoid of life. The sight alone would haunt her nightmares for the rest of her life, and she was only viewing this from a memory. The reminder that the dementor-like creature had had a physical effect on the unfortunate trio who had stumbled upon it just made her grateful that she could not also feel the other senses that would accompany such a memory in the pensieve. Just the visual was nightmarish enough, without the physical symptoms that came with a dementor attack.

Mari closed her eyes, and, suddenly, they were back in Professor Todd’s office. She turned to look at her friends, who looked pale and shaky.

“Holy shit,” Joven choked out. He pulled his glasses off to rub his eyes.

“I-“ Boze swallowed. “I remember now.”

Damien nodded slowly, but said nothing else.

Sohinki suddenly took her hand in his. Mari looked over, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was facing the group, face white but also set.

“C’mon, we should go before-“

“You get caught?” A new voice interrupted.

There were a few yelps of surprise, plus Joven’s high pitched scream, as they whirled around to see Professor Todd sitting at his desk. How had they missed him?

“P-Professor!” Mari sputtered, trying not to look too guilty.

The six stared at their headmaster with identical looks of a dear getting caught in the headlights, mixed with variations of guilt and horror.

“Good evening,” Todd said, pleasantly. “I must commend you six. You may be the first students to ever actually manage to break into my office. While not exactly in the moral clear, it’s quite a feat.”

No one replied; they merely stared in stunned silence.

“We- we were using your pensieve,” Joven admitted.

“It’s our fault,” Shayne blurted out, gesturing to himself along with Boze and Damien, who both glanced at each other but quickly caught on and nodded frantically in agreement. “Mari, Joven, and Sohinki were trying to help us deal with what we saw last year.”

“No, it’s our fault,” Sohinki countered, quickly. “We were investigating Flitz’s death and we pressured them into helping us because we didn’t have any leads, and we thought a pensieve would give us some clues if we knew exactly what they saw.”

Boze and Damien both opened their mouths to argue, but Todd held a hand up.

“I should have suspected you three would want to search for answers on your own, given the ministry’s failure to bring Mr. Ricketts’s friends and family closure.” He sighed deeply, looking directly at Mari, Sohinki, and Joven. “And I apologize, to you three.” Todd then turned to look at the fourth years with a tired expression. “For my failure to help after the incident. For this, I will merely let the six of you off with a warning. The Ministry, while they have very few intentions to investigate Mr. Ricketts’s death, have even fewer to admit to the public that they will not. They will not tolerate any sort of meddling or interference into the case, from the school’s officials or the students. Myself and the staff can turn a blind eye, but you must be careful to not attract any unwanted attention.”

Joven’s fists clenched. “Those dirty politicians-“ he swore under his breath.

“What would they do?” Boze scoffed. “We’re all underage.”

“Perhaps,” Todd agreed, solemnly, “but unfortunately, it would not take much to convince the Board of Governors that your investigation is a danger to other students. And I know that several of you have family members who also work for the ministry, correct?”

Mari flinched, his words hitting her with sudden reality. Her parents didn’t just work for the Ministry; they were ambassadors. Her actions would directly shine on their country as a whole. Itt would not only bring a great deal of shame and humiliation, but also likely force them to return to their family home in Japan.

She looked at her companions, carefully gauging their reactions.

Boze, Joven, and Sohinki looked mildly concerned, but less so on a personal level. Joven and Sohinki, Mari understood, given that Joven’s parents were muggle psychologists and Sohinki’s parents ran an independent magazine completely unaffiliated with the Ministry. But she was certain the Bozemans held seats in the Wizengamot, and other relatives to be higher ranking Ministry officials. Boze’s face twitched at Todd’s words, but she was looking at Shayne and Damien, rather than appearing concerned for herself.

Shayne’s eyes widened while Damien blanched, fists tightening at his sides.

“So you’re saying we can investigate, but to be careful,” Mari concluded, pulling everyone’s focus back to the conversation at hand.

“Precisely,” Todd agreed. “And know that Hogwarts is, at its very core, a facility for learning and growing. You are allowed to use any resources within its walls. Which means, of course, the next time you want to use the pensieve, you need only ask. Though, I did appreciate the sticking charms on the floors. Those were particularly tricky to undo.”

The six exchanged sheepish looks. They collectively and suddenly realized that in their rush to plan the break in, none of them had even considered just _asking_ the headmaster if they could use the pensieve.

“Thank you, Professor,” Damien said, rubbing the back of his neck with a nervous laugh.

They filed out of his office relieved and worried at the same time.

“I’m glad Professor Todd is at least on our side,” Joven said, ask they walked down the empty corridor to the library.

“Probably all the teachers too,” Shayne pointed out. “None of them like the idea of the Ministry trying to claim more jurisdiction over the school.”

Mari stopped, suddenly.

“Are we...” She hesitated. “Are we going to continue?”

The others also stopped in their tracks, looking back at her.

“What do you mean?” Boze demanded.

“Well,” Mari huffed. “You heard Professor Todd. If it gets out that we’re investigating Flitz’s death, it could be serious trouble for everyone. We could get expelled, our parents that work in the Ministry could lose their jobs... the Ministry might even use it as an excuse to try and take over the school more.”

They were all quiet, for a moment.

“My parents own _The Quill_ ,” Sohinki said, finally. “They’re safe, I’m pretty sure, from the Ministry at least. Getting justice is bigger than us, and it outweighs the risks.”

Joven nodded. “I’m muggle-born, so I know I don’t have as much stake in it as some of you guys do, but Sohinki is right.”

“If getting justice for Flitz also gets my parents fired,” Boze declared, smiling ironically, “it’ll be killing two birds with one stone. Count me in too.” Mari could tell she was only half joking, but the determination in her face was real. She appreciated that though Boze had not even known Flitz like herself, Joven, and Sohinki, she was just as determined to help them.

They looked at Mari, Damien, and Shayne next for their response.

Damien was biting his lip, seriously contemplating their words. His eyebrows knitted together with deep worry, before he finally said, “My mom is a member of the Wizengamot. It’s taken her years to work her way up there, as a single mom and a divorced witch, and we think she’s on her way to being supreme warlock in a couple years. I don’t...” he swallowed. “My mom has done everything for my sister and I. I don’t know how much I’m willing to possibly jeopardize that.”

“Like they could fire your mom.” Boze scoffed. “She’s way too powerful and popular now. But seriously, Dames, if you want out, that’s fine. We won’t hold it against you. Expulsion, and jeopardizing our parents’ jobs, are big risks.”

Damien grimaced, falling silent suddenly. He looked down at his shoes for a moment, then looked back up at them with the face of grim determination. “No, my mom would be disappointed in me if I didn’t help someone in need, or try to do the right thing just because it wasn’t the easy thing.” He took a deep breath. “I’m in.”

Shayne was nodding as well. “Me too,” he said, firmly. “My mom’s the head of the DMLE. She should be the one investigating in the first place.” His face twisted, a mix of anger, shame, and disappointment. “We’re just gonna be doing her job for her.”

They were looking at Mari now. Her stomach was in knots. Could she risk her family’s well-being and reputation, putting their livelihoods in danger because she’d been caught trying to investigate something the ministry didn’t want her to? But she had been the one to push for her, Joven, and Sohinki to investigate on their own. She had been the one to declare to Professor Padilla that they were willing to take the chances, to make the sacrifices needed to get justice for their friend. Sure, it would reflect badly upon her family if she got expelled from school for interfering with a Ministry investigation, but what kind of a person did that make her, if she abandoned her friends and her morals just because of what others thought?

“Flitz was my best friend,” she said, quietly. She met each of their gazes with fierce determination. “Sometimes doing what’s right isn’t easy, like Damien said. What’s right is getting justice for Flitz, even if it costs us everything.” Mari put her hand out, lifting her chin. “But we need to be in this together. It’s all or none from here on out.”

Joven and Sohinki were the first to join in, putting their hands on top of hers. Without any further hesitation, Boze, Joven, and Shayne also joined the pact. Even without speaking a single incantation, Mari could feel their combined magic swirling around them, linking them to their pact.

“Let’s do this.”

* * *

**_Five Years Ago, April 5th_ **

_Mari blew out a puff of air, blowing a lock of her bangs out of her eyes._

_Flitz bumped shoulders with her. “You should get a haircut,” he said, as they strolled along the path toward the Forbidden Forest._

_“Probably,” she agreed, humming absentmindedly to herself. Their finals were finally done, so the two had decided to go on a walk while their friends were finishing up their last exam. It was a warm spring day, and they wanted to take one last look at the castle before they had to leave the next day._

_“How’d you think you did on the potions exam?” she asked._

_Flitz shrugged, kicking a pebble down the path with the side of his foot. “Not sure,” he admitted. “Forgot the ingredients to a Cure for Boils.”_

_“Yeah, I wasn’t too sure about-“ she cut herself off, stopping dead in the path. “What’s that?” She pointed down the trail, squinting at what had caught her eye._

_Flitz followed her gaze to the small lump of red and gold sitting in the distance, nestled and half obscured by the tall grass._

_Flitz made a move to walk toward it, but Mari grabbed his arm. “It could be dangerous,” she cautioned._

_Flitz ignored her, approaching the creature. Mari crept up, just at his heels. Once they got closer, Mari immediately recognized it._

_“Oh!” She gasped. “It’s a phoenix!”_

_The usually majestic magical bird lay, half underneath a broken tree branch. Its red feathers were dulled, and the scattering of feathers around it told her it had been there for a while. Its small chest was moving, ever so slightly._

_“Poor thing,” Flitz murmured, sympathetically. “We need to help it!”_

_Mari nodded, pulling out her wand. She pointed at the tree branch. “I’m gonna levitate it, you get it out from under there.” At Flitz’s nod, she flicked her wand and incanted, “Wingardium Leviosa!”_

_The branch floated up like it was no heavier than a feather. Immediately, Flitz scooped the bird out from underneath and cradled it gently in his arms._

_“Ouch!” Flitz yelped, wincing as he pulled back with his arms full of the bird._

_“What is it?” Mari asked, as she dropped her arm and let the branch fall back to place._

_“Thorns, didn’t even see them,” Flitz looked down at his arms and grimaced. They were bleeding a bit, but it didn’t look life threatening by any means. The bird was another story._

_“Its wing is broken,” Flitz informed her, as he lowered to sit on the grass. “Probably crushed. And the other wing is full of thorns and open wounds.”_

_Mari knelt beside him, wand still drawn. The bird was trilling sadly, but nestled itself in Flitz’s arms. It seemed small and sickly, but at least it wasn’t trying to fight them off._

_“Can you help him?” Flitz looked up at her, helplessly._

_“My grandmother’s a healer,” Mari said. “I’ve seen her do some spells on people, but I don’t know if I could...”_

_“You need to try,” Flitz insisted. “If anyone can, it’s you.”_

_Mari bit her lip, and thought about her grandmother working on her patients when she was a child. She took a deep breath, and copied the wand movements that she recalled. “_ Episkey _,” she murmured, feeling the flow of magic._

_The wing suddenly straightened, and they could hear the cracking of the bones being snapped back into place. The phoenix let out a shriek of pain, thrashing in Flitz’s arms, but he kept a gentle yet firm grip around the small bird, cradling it carefully._

_“Did it work?” Mari asked, anxiously._

_The bird was weeping, dropping tears around Flitz’s arm. “Yeah, I think so,” he breathed, clearly distracted. Mari could see the tears dropping onto the open wounds on Flitz’s srms, immediately causing the skin to heal over. It looked like the wounds had never been there to begin with._

_“What the-“ Flitz gaped._

_“Phoenix tears heal just about everything,” Mari explained. “Super rare potion ingredients.”_

_Flitz nodded, then gently lifted up the other wing. “Can you fix this wing? I don’t think it’s broken.”_

_“I-I don’t know if I can get the thorns out,” Mari said, inspecting the other wing. Flitz was right, it wasn’t broken, but it was tattered with blood stains and thorns._

_“I can,” Flitz reassured her. He reached into his robes pockets and pulled out a small swiss army knife, as he had explained to her a while ago. Mari wasn’t sure why he carried it around at Hogwarts, but never bothered to question her friend further, especially since it seemed to come in handy in lieu of their lack of magical knowledge. He used the tweezers to gently and carefully pull at the thorns. Neither spoke as Flitz delicately and surgically pulled thorn after thorn out of the phoenix’s wing, who only let out soft whimpers and trills._

_“I think I got all of them,” he said, after a long period of silence._

_Mari nodded, and pointed at the wing with her wand now. “_ Ferula _!”_

_Bandages conjured and wrapped themselves around the still bloody wing. She stood up, brushing the grass and leaves out of her clothes. “We need to take him back to the castle,” she said. “We can wash the wounds and treat them better from there.”_

_Flitz nodded, holding up the bird for Mari to take. She took him gently, surprised by the light weight. The phoenix chirped at her, and settled into her arms comfortably._

_They walked back to the castle quickly, skidding to a stop when they ran into Joven, Sohinki, Wes, and Lasercorn._

_“Hey guys,” Joven greeted. “You would not believe the test we just took- what’s that?”_

_“We found a phoenix in the forest,” Flitz explained, breathlessly. “He’s hurt, so we need to find some healing potions and wash out the wounds.”_

_It really said something about their friend group that none of them even batted an eye._

_“Come to the boys bathroom on the third floor,” Wes suggested. “Everyone’s either in an exam or outside.”_

_They scurried to follow him to the third floor, Mari with no hesitation stepping into the unfamiliar bathroom. Immediately, she and Flitz got to work while Sohinki ran off to nick some potions from the hospital wing._

_“What’re you guys gonna name him?” Joven asked, peeking over Mari’s shoulder as they carefully washed out the bloody wing._

_“He’s not a pet!” Mari shot him a dirty look. “He’s a free bird.”_

_The phoenix seemed to agree, squawking hotly at Joven and playfully nipping at Mari’s fingers._

_“I think he likes you though,” Wes said, cooing. “What would you name him if you could?”_

_Mari finished rebandaging the wing, allowing the phoenix to finally hop up on its feet for the first time. She looked over and Flitz, who seemed to be seriously contemplating the question. He looked back at her, as the phoenix hopped up on Mari’s shoulder, nipping the shell of her ear affectionately, and grinned. Mari immediately grinned back._

_“Amraterasu,” they said in unison, before dissolving into laughter._

_Wes blinked, processed the word, and then laughed a bit once he got the joke. Joven and Lasercorn looked confused._

_“Amra, after me,” Flitz explained, once they finished laughing._

_“And Amaterasu, like the Japanese sun god,” Mari finished, giggling a bit still. She was smiling widely, and the phoenix sang a few notes of a pleasant melody._

_“I think he likes it,” Wes noted. The newly dubbed Amraterasu chirped again, as if in agreement._

_Mari held her forearm up, allowing the phoenix to hop onto her arm and be lifted up to face her. “Well, if he’s happy with it...” She smiled._

_Flitz grinned. “Welcome to the family, Amaterasu.”_


	8. Chapter 8 - Joven

**October 8th**

“I think we need to go to the Great Lake,” Sohinki said, over lunch one day. Joven’s sandwich was about halfway in his mouth when he paused, and looked at his friend in confusion, along with Mari  

They had been sitting at the Ravenclaw table when Damien had spotted them and waved then down. Boze and Shayne had also already been sitting with him. People were probably looking at the seemingly strange group of six, but Joven didn’t care. If he cared what other people thought, he wouldn’t have even survived his first year.

It had been a couple weeks since their last full group meeting. Joven hadn’t been prepared for the amount of work their professors would be giving them to prepare for the OWLs this year, but it seemed like neither had Mari or Sohinki. Their classes kept them busy, leaving them with little free time to brainstorm new leads about Flitz’s death, so Sohinki’s declaration made Joven pause.

“What makes you say that?” Mari asked, curious but also cautious.

“Well,” Sohinki said, slowly. “Beyond the fact that we know we’re facing some dementor-like creature, we don’t know anything about how Flitz died.”

“We should maybe start from the beginning,” Damien suggested, reasonably. “That day, what was the last you guys saw of him?”

Joven looked at Mari, who was wearing a calm mask. Sohinki shifted in his seat.

“Well,” Joven took charge, grimacing a bit. “It was the weekend before finals, so everyone was studying like crazy. The three of us, Wes, Lasercorn, and Flitz were studying in Professor Padilla’s classroom, since he lets us use the room when we want to study away from other people.”

“Who’re Wes and- Lasercorn?” Shayne looked confused.

“Oh,” Mari pointed over at the Slytherin table. “Wes Johnson. He’s one of our good friends, but he’s been really busy this year since he took up prefect duties, so he’s kind of been ignoring us.” She sounded a little bitter.

Sohinki nudged her, giving her a look. “It’s not his fault,” he said, trying to keep his voice even. “Wes cares a lot about the younger students. You know he’s got like twenty siblings. And it’s a good thing. I’d rather have him as prefect over some of the other assholes in his house.”

Joven nodded in agreement. “Yeah. People respect him. It’s probably the main reason I don’t get hexed every time I walk into the common room. I think he’s trying to make the older prefects seem less powerful so the younger students are less inclined to listen to them. Hopefully it’ll help Slytherin’s reputation. And yeah, he’s definitely a better choice than Church or something... or Lasercorn, for that matter.” He grimaced at the thought.

“Who’s Lasercorn then?” Boze asked. “And what kind of name is that?”

“Kind of a long story.” Sohinki waved her second question side. “It’s sort of an inside joke. But what’s important is that he was our good friend, until this year, when he just started straight up ignoring us.”

“Aside from that time he literally threw a blasting curse in our faces,” Joven said, bitterly.

“Aside from then,” Mari agreed, “We haven’t spoken to him since the day Flitz died. It’s part of the story.”

The three nodded, and looked at Joven to continue the story.

“Okay, so we were all studying in the classroom. Well, we were trying- okay, we were definitely not studying. We were just talking and messing around, but Lasercorn was already in this weird mood. He and I were playing Wizards’ Chess, and I beat him at it for once. And I was being a real sore winner, and normally he takes it with annoyance or with a jinx, but this time was different. He stormed out, and Flitz went after him, since he’s the mediator out of all of us. We... we never saw Flitz again. And later that night, Professor Todd called us into his office to tell us that Flitz was found dead in the Great Lake, and asked if we knew anything. We told him what happened, and Lasercorn-“ Joven stopped, and shook his head. “Merlin, his face was just so white. I’ve never seen him look so freaked out before, and I remember our first flying class. He said he talked to Flitz a bit outside the Great Hall, then went back to the Slytherin dorms for the rest of the day. After that, our parents arrived, and just flooed us directly home. Well, Sohinki’s parents brought me back, but other than that, we didn’t even get a chance to talk to each other about what happened. Lasercorn disappeared off the face of the earth for the whole summer, and Wes is terrible at replying to letters.”

“Don’t you two live near each other?” Boze asked, looking at Joven and Sohinki.

“My parents told Joven’s what had happened,” Sohinki said, sighing. “They freaked out.”

“Yeah, they basically put me under house arrest for the whole summer.” Joven grimaced. “You can’t imagine how much it took to convince them to even let me come back to school.”

“What about you three?” Mari asked, looking at the younger trio. “We saw what happened, obviously, but why were you three at the Great Lake to begin with.”

Boze blinked, while Shayne and Damien exchanged looks.

“It’s stupid,” Boze admitted. “We were taking a break from studying, and these two decided it was a good time to teach me how to swim.”

“At night?” Joven asked, confused.

“Yeah.” Boze’s lips twitched. “Because I’d been talking about being embarrassed to learn in case anyone was watching. And Shayne mentioned how he’d seen some older students trying to feed the giant squid the other day, and the conversation just spiraled.”

Joven’s heart ached for them honestly. They had just been a few thirteen year olds doing stupid things and messing around when they were suddenly forced to grow up far too fast.

“That brings me back to why I think we should investigate the Great Lake,” Sohinki cut in. “There are a lot of creatures down there. They might’ve seen something that we can’t see from the memory, and could give us more information about that- that dementor thing.”

They all fell quiet, contemplating Sohinki’s reasoning.

“You have a point,” Mari finally conceded.

Boze shook her head frantically. “I can’t swim, like hell I’m going anywhere near a lake.”

“We could use the bubble head charm,” Joven suggested. “Or get our hands on some gillyweed. Professor Baker mentioned he’s growing some for our next class.”

“Gillyweed does helps you breathe and swim,” Damien pointed out, looking at Boze.

“And we never got to teach you how to swim,” Shayne added, his lips twitching in amusement.

Boze looked mortified, but swallowed nervously. “O-okay,” she said, shakily. “But I’m staying in the shallow end until I’m ready.”

They all nodded, assuring her that they wouldn’t push her if she was uncomfortable.

“Are you three okay with this?” Joven thought to ask, as they were leaving lunch. “Going to the lake, I mean.”

The three looked at each other, as if looking for what the others thought and having a mental conversation before turning back around to assure him that they’d be fine. Joven wondered if that’s what he, Sohinki, and Mari looked like.

Joven and Mari waved goodbye to the others and headed to transfiguration, their next class.

“Takahashi,” one of Mari’s roommates greeted, coolly, once they entered the classroom.

Mari grimaced; Joven knew for a fact that she hated all of her roommates, and given the option, would rather sleep in the bathrooms than in her own room. “Cooper,” Mari replied, with a cold, fake smile on her face.

“Always knew you weren’t a real Gryffindor,” Cooper scoffed. “Hanging around Slytherin trash like that. Even after Ricketts, you’re bothering with those murderers-“

Joven barely had time to process her words before Mari had her left hand curled around the girl’s collar and her right hand gripping her wand tightly, digging into her neck harshly. Mari was a few inches shorter than the girl, but everyone knew Mari could be one of the most dangerous people to mess with. Cooper’s eyes widened with fear, frozen in the face of Mari’s wand and wrath.

“Watch you fucking mouth, Cooper, before I shut it for you,” she hissed. “The hell did you mean about that?”

Cooper squeaked in fear, fingers trying to pry Mari’s off her shirt. “J-just saying what everyone’s already thinking! Your friend was a Gryffindor muggle-born. Don’t be naive; he was obviously killed by a Slytherin.” She didn’t name names, but the way her eyes flickered to Joven spoke volumes  

Mari didn’t seem to have missed it, either. She snarled dangerously, shoving the girl backwards so she stumbled and fell on her bottom. “I know your brain’s small, Cooper, but if it were a bit bigger maybe you’d realize Joven’s a muggle-born too, you absolute moron.”

To Joven’s relief, Mari at least pocketed her wand, looking at Cooper with disgust. Clearly, Mari had decided she wasn’t worth the effort to curse.

Cooper was shaking a bit, but still managed to continue speaking. “Doesn’t change the fact that only Slytherins would have motivation to kill one of us. Your friend better watch his back, he’s still associated with those snakes.”

Mari moved to whip out her wand again, but this time, Joven caught her wrist. She looked up at him, brown eyes swimming with fury.

“Forget it,” Joven told her, firmly. “Professor Whittle will be here soon anyways.”

Mari grit her teeth, but didn’t pull out her wand again like Joven was afraid of. Instead, she growled, “Sleep with one eye open, from now on, Cooper. I don’t like your accusations.”

Joven pulled her away and they settled in their usual desk in the back of the room. The rest of the class began filing in not long after, followed by the professor.

Joven spent the rest of the lecture only half paying attention. He could tell Mari was still stewing angrily, but was relieved that she didn’t try anything in class. Class finally ended with neither of them getting any work done and both of them getting extra homework to finish for next class.

“I hope you’re not listening to dumbasses like Cooper,” Mari said, as they walked down the corridor toward their next class. “The nerve of some people...”

“She doesn’t know what we know about the dementor,” Joven pointed out. “That it was this dementor-like creature, and not a student. We’re the only ones who have even managed to rule out the fact that it might be a student, much less a Slytherin student, right?”

“Right,” Mari said, quickly.

“Otherwise,” Joven continued, “it’s not exactly an unfair conclusion. There are plenty of Slytherins who would have had it out for Flitz; the guy was outspoken, smart, and popular. Not to mention a Gryffindor, and a muggle-born. You can’t pretend there aren’t some people in my house who wouldn’t like that.”

Mari sighed, deflating. “Doesn’t mean they should be harassing you.”

“I’m a big boy,” Joven assured her, grinning a bit. “I can take care of myself.”

“You’re an idiot, is what you are,” Mari said, but a small smile was on her face despite how troubled she looked, so Joven called it a success.

“Your favorite idiot,” Joven countered, with a grin.

Mari snorted, shoving him a bit with her shoulder. “You are.”

* * *

**_Five Years Ago, September 5th_ **

_Joshua did not like heights. He wasn’t necessarily afraid of it, but he was far more comfortable with his feet firmly on the ground._

_“You’ll be fine,” Wes said, cheerfully._

_Easy for him to say, Joshua thought, sourly. Wes claimed he had no athletic or natural flying abilities, but that didn’t change the fact that his broom had shot up into his hand as soon as he’d commanded it to._

_At least David seemed like he was in the same position as him. Joshua had never even touched a broom in his life, and based on the way David was glaring at his own, one might think he had never seen one either._

_“C’mon, David,” Wes urged. “You need to get over your fear at some time.”_

_“Hell no,” the other boy grumbled. “Those things are death traps.”_

_“Aren’t you half-blood?” Joshua inquired. “Thought flying was pretty common.”_

_Wes sighed heavily. “It is. David hates flying though.”_

_“I got onto one when I was a kid, and I started flying up so high that my parents couldn’t catch me. Then my broom burst into flames, burning me so badly I fell off and into the pool in my backyard. But I didn’t know how to swim yet so I started drowning and my dad had to jump in and save me.” David was making a face at the memory._

_Joshua winced in sympathy. “That’s... not fun.”_

_“Here,” Wes launched into a full explanation of flying and how to not fall to David, who interrupted him with hesitant questions and requests for a demonstration. Joshua nervously looked at his broom, still lying lifelessly on the ground._

_“Up,” he tried again. The broom at least moved this time, rolling over just once before remaining still again._

_“You need to say it with more authority,” a girl across from him said._

_Joshua looked up at the girl. She had a Gryffindor crest on her robes and a red and gold tie. He blinked. “Wha- are you talking to me?”_

_She looked at him like he was an idiot. “Yes,” she said in a ‘duh’ sort of tone. “The broom won’t respond to you if you’re unsure of yourself. You need to command it to fly into your hand.”_

_“I had the same problem,” the Gryffindor boy standing next to the girl added, then lifted the broom in his hand to gesture with it._

_Joshua frowned thoughtfully, and held his hand out over the broom. “Up!” he repeated, more forcefully._

_This time, the broom shot directly up into his hand._

_“Nice job, Joshua!” Wes bumped shoulders with him, giving him one of his usual toothy smiles. Even David gave him a thumbs up._

_“Thanks,” Joshua murmured to them, clutching the broom with a surprised face. He looked back up at the girl, who gave him a pleased smile._

_“See?” She grinned. “Most of magic is about intention. If you don’t believe you can do it, it probably won’t happen.”_

_“Thanks,” Joshua offered a small smile._

_“No problem,” the girl replied. “I’m Mari Takahashi by the way, and this if Flitz.” She gestured to the tall boy next to her._

_“Joshua Ovenshire,” Joshua said, but his words were half interrupted by a yelp of fear from David, who was beginning to float up on the air on his broom. Wes was laughing, assuring his friend that he was fine and he wouldn’t fall._

_“Jovenshire?” Mari furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, having clearly misheard him._

_“N-no.” Joshua tried not to laugh. “Joshua Ovenshire.”_

_Her face brightened in realization. “Oh, sorry!” She apologized sheepishly._

_“Jovenshire’s a pretty cool nickname, though,” Flitz pointed out with a laugh._

_“It is,” Wes agreed, appearing at Joshua’s side suddenly and slung an arm around his shoulder. “Hey, you’re the Takahashi sister, right? I’ve seen you around the solstice balls.”_

_A look of recognition dawned on her face. “Oh, you’re Wes?”_

_Wes nodded, beaming. “Yeah! Our moms work together in the Ministry,” he told Joshua, David, and Flitz. By now, the four had crowded together, the imaginary and real line between the Gryffindors and Slytherins gone. People were staring at them, Joshua realized. His usual anxiety was nonexistent, however. The others didn’t seem to notice, or, if they did, couldn’t care less._

_“Jovenshire,” David echoed, thoughtfully, then smirked. “That’s your new nickname!” he declared._

_Joshua made a face. “Awfully long,” he said, but truthfully didn’t mind too much. It had a certain ring to it._

_“Better than Joshua Ovenshire,” David retorted, causing Wes, Flitz, and Mari to laugh a bit. Joshua joined in with the laughter._

_“Joven,” Flitz suggested. “That’s shorter, and kinda catchy.”_

_“Joven,” Joshua repeated it to himself, his chest suddenly feeling lighter as the others grinned at him._

_“What do you think?” Mari asked._

_The newly-dubbed Joven grinned back at them. “Yeah. I like it.”_

_David punched him gently on the shoulder. “Good,” he said. “‘Cuz we would’ve stuck with it regardless of how you felt.”_

_Joven made a face back. “Well, I’m just gonna have to come up with a nickname for you then.”_

_David snorted. “Good luck with that.”_

_The whistle sounded off before Joven could reply, sending them scrambling back into formation for the rest of the lesson. After the class, however, Joven jogged after Mari and Flitz, closely followed by Wes and David._

_“Hey,” he said, a bit shy suddenly. “Do you guys wanna sit with us at lunch?”_

_Mari and Flitz looked at each other, clearly hesitating._

_“Will your housemates mind?” Mari asked._

_“Probably,” David said, bluntly, earning an elbow to the ribs from Wes. He winced, rubbing the sore area, and glared. “I’m just telling the truth.”_

_“They hate me and I’ve survived this long, plus my friend Sohinki always sits with us and he’s in Ravenclaw. They hate him too,” Joven added, also getting nudged in the side by the brunette. “Ouch!”_

_“What they mean to say,” Wes said, like David hadn’t spoken. “is that they won’t do anything, so who cares? We like you guys.”_

_Mari’s face lit up at that, and Flitz broke into a smile._

_“Then yeah,” Flitz said, happily. “We’ll sit with you.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back from college so hopefully that means I can get back to cracking down on this fic!


	9. Chapter 9 - Sohinki

**October 8th**

“Sohinki, this was your idea,” Mari said, causing everyone’s eyes to turn to him. “What do you think?”

Sohinki rubbed the back of his neck. “Honestly, I didn’t even think I’d be able to convince you guys,” he admitted, sheepishly, earning groans and rolled eyes from his friends. “But I do think the bubble head charm should be sufficient.”

“I still think gillyweed would be better,” Joven argued. “It would give us the ability to swim and not worry about the bubble popping.”

“Well, where are we gonna get it?” Shayne asked, frowning. “Not exactly something we can just order from the apothecary, and Professor Baker is so meticulous with his stores I’m sure he’d notice if some went missing.”

“Professor Peabody probably also has some in his potion storages,” Mari suggested. “I can try and get some from him.”

“See?” Joven lifted his chin. “This is a dangerous thing, we’re doing. We need to ensure we’re as prepared as possible, and gillyweed will work way better than a bubble head charm.”

“It would freak me out less if I didn’t have to worry about drowning,” Boze said, but still looked anxious at the thought.

“You could stay behind as a look out,” Sohinki said, looking at her with concern. “We still need someone to keep time to make sure we get out before the gillyweed wears off, or get help if we need it.”

Boze was the only one of the group who couldn’t swim, but she shook her head resolutely. “No, Shayne does better under pressure. He should be the lookout, just in case something goes wrong.” Her eyes flickered over to Shayne, who smiled at her. There was more to that, Sohinki realized, but he wasn’t about to push the matter if Boze was so resolute about it. Besides, with the gillyweed, they shouldn’t have to worry about her too much anyways.

“So Mari and I will focus on getting enough gillyweed,” Sohinki said.

“Shayne and I can gather some information about the lake so we can have an idea of what we’re dealing with,” Boze added. “My siblings know a lot of Hogwarts secrets, I can write them, and Shayne knows a lot of people in school who might let something slip.”

“Leaving Joven and Damien to look up any defensive spells we might need against some creatures in the lake,” Mari finished, then glanced at the trio of fourth years. “You okay with that?”

Damien looked mildly uncomfortable, but he steeled his features quickly and nodded. “I’ll be fine,” he said. Sohinki respected the brave face, but he could see the worried look Boze and Shayne were exchanging.

“Don’t worry, buddy,” Joven said, cheerfully. “It’s just you and me, in the library, for hours. Sounds like a Ravenclaw’s wet dream.” He winked dramatically, causing the group to laugh. Damien’s tense shoulder relaxed a bit at the lightened mood.

“I’ll be fine,” Damien repeated. “This is important.”

Mari nodded, face turning more serious now. “Let’s go.”

* * *

**October 10th**

“This isn’t a good plan,” Sohinki warned, under his breath.

“You gotta better idea?” Mari muttered from the corner of her mouth, stirring the cauldron.

Sohinki sighed. “No.”

“Thought so,” she said, a bit smugly. “Stick to the plan. Okay?”

Sohinki nodded, and Mari nodded back. Then, she stood from her seat and walked up to Professor Peabody to ask some questions about the potion the class was working on.

Sohinki glanced around and saw the two Gryffindor girls working next to him had left their cauldron unattended to grab supplies in the back of the class. Their backs turned, the rest of the class focused on their own work, and the professor distracted. This was it.

He took a deep breath, leaned over, and stirred the cauldron three times in the

opposite direction, just as Mari had specifically instructed him to do.

Besides, it went against every potions safety rule and basic common sense to leave an unfinished potion unattended like the girls did, so Sohinki didn’t feel too bad about it.

 _They definitely won’t be making that mistake again_ , he mused, as he kept his focus on his own cauldron. He could hear the growing, violent bubbling of the unattended cauldron and had to smother a laugh at it. Finally, the girls returned to their seats and let out twin shrieks as soon as they realized something had gone horribly wrong.

Peabody immediately rushed toward them at their screams. It was too late, as the cauldron explode and stopped the professor mid-step. Sohinki threw himself under the table, trying to avoid the substance of the messed up potion. The gooey contents exploded across the room, hitting a few students and contaminating several other cauldrons. It set of a chain reaction of exploding cauldrons and screaming. Sohinki peeked out from under his desk to witness to carnage, feeling a little pleased at the damage he’d caused. No one seemed injured, but the reaction from the exploded potions had left enormous splatters of black, oil-like residue across the room and on students. Peabody was frantically trying to calm everyone down and do damage control, so he completely missed Mari slinking back into the room from his private ingredients storage. He grinned at her, and she smirked back.

She slid back into her seat beside him while he crawled out from under his desk. Ignoring their ruined potion in front of them, they surveyed the chaos before them calmly, a stark contrast to how the rest of their class and their professor appeared to be acting.

“Nicely done.”

* * *

**October 15th**

“You sure he won’t miss any of this?” Damien asked skeptically, inspecting the gillyweed Mari managed to steal from Peabody.

“There were jars worth of this stuff,” Mari assured them. “He won’t even notice. Especially after the disaster that was today.”

The others loved the story Mari enthralled them with of their brilliant plan during potions class, Sohinki filling in his part of the plan and his own observations of people’s hilarious reactions.

“What about you two?” Mari asked, looking at Shayne and Boze. “You guys get anything?”

Boze looked pleased with herself. “Why, yes indeed we did.” She pulled out a parchment paper and slid it across the table for everyone to see.

“There’s some conflicting information,” Shayne explained. “Not too bad, so I just included it in this just in case. We need to be vigilant.”

“The only thing we need to know for certain is the direction of the merpeople,“ Damien tacked on. “I think they’ll be the greatest help. They’re the only intelligent species that occupies the lake that we may get information from.”

“They’re a cautious people,” Joven added. “They won’t attack unless we appear to be threats.”

“Merpeople have always declined their status as beings,” Damien said. “It’s cause they don’t like being in the same category as vampires and werewolves and such. It’s actually part of why their relationships to wizards have always been kind of rocky.”

“So we just have to make ourselves appear as non threatening as possible,” Mari concluded. “Hopefully, we can ask our questions and they’ll be helpful. Anything else?”

“The giant squid shouldn’t give us any trouble,” Damien said. “It’s the grindylows we need to look out for.”

“Nasty little things.” Joven made a face. “We’ll be safe from them once we get to the merpeople colony, but we should still be able to fend off the grindylows until we can get there. Just a minor blasting spell should keep them out of our hair.”

“Alright, so the question is when we should do this.” Mari looked around for suggestions.

“Halloween,” Boze suggested, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Basically everyone will be in Hogsmeade, so as long as we get back for the feast, no one will even know we’re missing. It’s a while to wait, but if we’re really worried about being caught, it may be our best bet.”

“That’s a good idea,” Sohinki agreed. “We’ll head out with everyone going to Hogsmeade, and then circle back.”

“Perfect,” Mari declared. “Everyone still know their roles?”

Sohinki nodded, along with everyone else. Mari smiled a bit, lifting her chin.

“Well then, get ready, ‘cause we’re going swimming.”

* * *

**_Five Years Ago, September 5th_ **

_“Sohinki!” Joshua was waving him down as soon as he entered the Great Hall._

_Sohinki blinked, doing a bit of a double take at his friend, who usually waited for him at the Ravenclaw table. Today, he was waving at him from the Slytherin table. As he approached, he realized he was sitting with four people he vaguely recognized from their year, two Gryffindors and two Slytherins._

_“Hey,” he greeted, a little cautiously. Joshua was smiling, something Sohinki hadn’t realized until this point that he hadn’t seen his friend doing very recently._

_“Guys, this is my best friend, Sohinki,” Joshua introduced him, looking at the other people sitting with him. “Sohinki, this is Mari and Flitz.” He gestured to the two Gryffindors, who smiled and waved at him. “And this is Wes and David, they’re a couple of my roommates.” He now gestured to the other Slytherins. The one with longer hair, Wes, beamed at waved at him excitedly while the other nodded at him a bit awkwardly._

_“You play Wizard’s Chess, right?” Wes blurted out, excitedly._

_Sohinki took a seat next to Joshua so they were opposite of Wes, David, and Flitz. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m thinking about joining the club.”_

_“You should,” Wes encouraged. “We should play a game! I was also thinking-“_

_David nudged the other boy slightly, cutting off the slew of words. “He looks overwhelmed, Wes. You’re always way too cheery for the average person.” His words were a bit harsh, Sohinki thought, but Wes took it good naturedly. He laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck._

_“Sorry,” he said. “My parents say I talk enough for the both of us.” He pointed at David and himself._

_“You’re fine,” Sohinki assured him, glancing around. People were staring at the strange group of first years, but nobody did anything._

_“Oh, don’t worry about them,” Flitz said, catching his gaze. “I was worried too, about us sitting here. No one in Slytherin wants to mess with Wes or Dave.”_

_Sohinki cast an inquisitive gaze at the two first year Slytherins. Wes was pouring tons of syrup on his stack of pancakes while David was making a face at him. Neither looked particularly threatening._

_“Are you sure?” Sohinki replied, a bit dryly._

_“Wes is the oldest of the Johnson line,” Mari explained. “Most people don’t want to step on any toes. And David just threatens people with arson.”_

_“He does what?!” Sohinki demanded, alarmed._

_“That’s what he did to this kid who tried to knock me out of the air,” Flitz said, helpfully. “I don’t think he was serious though.”_

_The look of alarm must not have faded from his expression, because Joshua was quick to reassure him. “Don’t worry, Sohinki. David’s got more bark than bite.”_

_“What kinda name is Sohinki, anyways?” Mari asked, curiously._

_“Oh, my real name is Matt,” Sohinki explained. “But Joshua and I met in a class with two Matts, so everyone called him Matt and me Sohinki. So it kinda stuck.”_

_“Joven did mention you guys met in primary school,” Flitz said._

_“Joven?” Sohinki echoed, confused._

_“It’s a good nickname, right?” David insisted, breaking his attention away from Wes. “We came up with it during flying class. Better than Joshua.”_

_Sohinki thought for a moment and nodded, laughing a little bit. “Joven,” he repeated to himself. “Yeah, that fits, for some reason.” He decided._

_The newly dubbed Joven let out a sigh. “Guess I’m never shaking that nickname,” he said, a little mournfully, but Sohinki knew that if he truly didn’t like it, he would put up bigger of a fight._

_He honestly was relieved his friend found some other people to hang out with in other classes. He had been nervous ever since he realized how big of a target his friend had on him since school began._

_“Hey, Sohinki, we’re gonna practice flying after lunch! You should join us,” Wes suggested._

_“Sohinki loves flying,” Joven added. “He wants to try out for Quidditch next year.”_

_They all grinned at him._

_“That sounds cool!” Mari said._

_“You should totally do it,” Wes agreed._

_“You could give me some pointers,” Flitz added._

_The little voice in Sohinki’s head that had begun whispering his worries about being replaced was instantly squashed. He grinned back at the group. “Yeah, I’d love to!”_


	10. Chapter 10 - Boze

**October 31st**

Boze never bothered to learn how to swim. 

She’d grown up with nannies and tutors, but had mainly been confined to the Bozeman grounds, which didn’t have any body of water. So, she and her siblings resigned themselves to playing in the woods or exploring the manor. By the time her brother and sister got old enough to take her around their small town, they had grown disinterested in her and more invested in their own lives. And by the time Boze got her letter, she hadn’t seen her siblings in over a year. 

Shayne and Damien had teased her about her inability to swim for years, but always lightheartedly and fondly, in the way her own siblings used to. In a way, Shayne and Damien were better siblings than her own ever were. They helped her when she needed it, they encouraged her when she felt low, and they protected her when she couldn’t do it herself. 

Boze figured it was her turn now. 

Boze never learned to swim, but that didn’t matter, because she knew she’d be okay. She would be with Damien, and their new friends, and could rest easy knowing Shayne was far from the murky depths of the lake. 

“I didn’t thank you yet,” Shayne murmured, while the three walked down toward Hogsmeade. 

“What for?” Boze cocked an eyebrow. Shayne looked over to meet her eyes, quirking his own eyebrows in response. Damien was quiet, absentmindedly kicking a pebble on Boze’s left side as they strolled down to the village. 

“You know,” Shayne said. “I wouldn’t have said anything about swimming.”

“I know,” Boze replied, simply. “That’s why I did.”

Shayne gave a small smile, then turned his attention back to their path. Damien bumped shoulders with her, causing her to look up inquisitively. 

“You’ll be fine,” he said, quietly.

Boze nodded, confidently. “I know, I’ll be with you.”

They reached the village and made a circle back to the school grounds, not saying another word until they met up with Mari, Joven, and Sohinki.

“Took you guys long enough,” Sohinki said, but he didn’t sound annoyed. He merely held up a bit of green, leafy seaweed. 

Boze made a face. “Merlin,  _ that’s _ gillyweed? Looks just like regular old seaweed.”

“I like gilly  _ water _ ,” Damien said, taking a piece of it. “But this does not look nearly as good.”

“Just eat it,” Mari commanded, rolling her eyes. “Cast your warming charms and get into the water.”

Boze glanced at the lake. It was the end of October, so the weather wasn’t terribly cold yet, but it was still chilly. Even with warming charms, it wouldn’t be pleasant. Nonetheless, she cast the warming charm on herself and downed the slimy piece of gillyweed without complaint before wading into the water until it was at waist-height. Suddenly, it was like she couldn’t breathe. She opened her mouth to gasp for breath but nothing happened. She reached for her neck, and could feel slits along the side of it. She looked down at her hands, and saw it had grown webbed. 

“You can’t breathe air anymore!” Joven yelped, pulling her into the water. Boze let out a shriek and struggled instinctively, but then felt a sudden release of oxygen. She blinked several times to see Joven looking at her with concern in his face, holding onto her wrists. They were now both completely submerged. He gave her a look, and she nodded reassuringly, much calmer now. 

_ This isn’t so bad _ , she thought, her fears of drowning gone with the realization that it was impossible to drown with the gillyweed. 

Mari, Sohinki, and Damien also appeared beside them, wading into the water. Mari nodded at them and pointed to the bottom of the lake. They nodded and swam to follow her, Boze holding onto Damien with one hand and using her other hand to stroke the water and kick her webbed feet like she had seen the others do. 

They finally reached the bottom of the lake and began to see the colony of merpeople. 

One stood in front of its people, holding a large staff. Boze wondered for a moment how they were supposed to communicate now, but the merperson spoke before she could go any further. 

“ _ Humans _ .” The voice was melodic and soothing, and Boze was suddenly reminded of the stories of Greek sirens her nannies would tell her as a child, whose voices would lure sailors to their deaths. She knew Hogwarts was far from Greece, and these merpeople far from their cousins, but she kept a vice-like grip on Damien’s arm regardless. 

“ _ We have been waiting for someone to come _ ,” he spoke, fluid yet firm. “ _ The shadow that stole the boy’s life was not us. Your kind swore to keep those away from us, yet my scouts inform me of your shadow monster approaching the village far too close. You are lucky he only took the human, for if it attacked any of my people, it would have meant outright war. _ ”

Boze looked back at her friends, who looked just as confused as she was. 

After a moment of stunned silence, the leader spoke again. 

“ _ I can see you know not what we speak of. Did you know the human who perished? _ ” he inquired. 

Mari nodded quickly, wading a bit forward in front of the group. Boze could see Joven twitch a bit, making an abortive move to pull her back. She raised her wand and cast a bubble head charm over her head so the gills along her neck could breathe, but she could also speak. 

“Yes.” Mari’s voice was echoey underwater. “We are trying to find out what happened to him.”

“ _ Very well, since we will not hold younglings to your elders’ mistakes or broken agreements, this time, we shall let you go. But be warned, humans are no longer welcome in the merpeople village. We do not know much, since we only caught a glimpse of the creature before we retreated. It sucked the life right out of the boy, my condolences,” _ he said, solemnly 

Boze felt a shiver go down her spine, and it had nothing to do with the October cold. 

“What was it?” Mari pressed. “A dementor?”

The merpeople around them let out hisses. 

“ _ Speak not its name, _ ” the leader growled. “ _ You humans play with what you know not of. The merpeople know to not engage in such foul creatures. Especially that creature. It was fouler than any shadow I’ve seen before. Different. _ ”

“Different how?” Mari demanded. 

The merpeople stirred with discontent at her tone. The leader looked around, then turned back to their group. “ _ Begone, now, humans, _ ” he said, growling. “ _ If you return, you will have made an enemy of the merpeople colony. _ ”

That was a dismissal if Boze had ever heard one. 

Joven reached forward and pulled Mari back. She hesitated, but followed. They swam up until they broke the surface, just in time for the gillyweed to wear off. 

Shayne scrambled back from the edge of the water in surprise. “Are you guys okay?” he asked, holding a hand out to Boze. She took it gratefully, pulling herself out of the water and shivering frantically. Shayne quickly cast a warming and a drying charm on her. 

“We’re fine,” Sohinki said, also drying himself off and shivering. 

“Did you learn anything?” Shayne asked anxiously. 

“Well, whatever killed Flitz was like a dementor, but different, according to the merpeople,” Joven said, with a sigh. “And they refused to say anything else, so back to square one on that end. But they also said something about a broken agreement?”

Damien spoke up now. “The Ministry has an agreement with the merpeople colonies that the dementors would stay away from them. It’s mainly for the colonies near Azkaban, but it extends to all colonies, since the ministry claims to have control over the dementors.”

“They clearly don’t,” Mari growled, hands clenched into fists.

“So what do we do now?” Boze asked, looking around. “We know what happened. We just don’t know why.”

“Exactly,” Sohinki agreed, solemnly. “There’s no way a dementor should have been here, unless someone was controlling it.”

“There’s no real way to control a dementor though,” Damien argued. “And there was something else... they said it was different than a dementor. Something more foul.”

There was a beat of silence.

“We do more research,” Mari said, firmly. “I want you three to dig up every piece of information on dementors. Leave no stone unturned.” She pointed directly at Boze, Damien, and Shayne. 

“What about you guys?” Shayne asked. 

“We’re gonna do a bit of digging of our own,” Mari said, grimly. “I’m starting to think that the only person who knows what went on that night is Flitz himself.”

Boze glanced at Damien and Shayne, who looked unsure but didn’t want to push it. 

“What do you mean?” Boze asked, warily. She didn’t like where this was going.

Mari’s eyes flashed with anger, and then determination. “It’s Halloween night, isn’t it?” she asked, rhetorically. “They say the barrier between the living and the dead are the weakest tonight. Let’s see what we can do.”

* * *

**_Four Years Ago, September 1st_ **

_ Ericka boarded the train without a glance back. Not that she was expecting her parents to still be there, but she didn’t want the reality of disappointment to start out her first year at Hogwarts. Honestly, she was surprised she’d even been on time to catch the train, having hopped on mere moments before the whistle sounded and the engines came to life. _

_ She pulled her enormous trunk along down the long train car. Her mother had overpacked by a long shot- insisting on packing all the winter stuff even though she could have just as easily sent it through the mail. Maybe it was just an excuse to not have to send her mail… _

_ Her thoughts were cut off by a boy sticking his head out of the nearest compartment, where she had stopped to catch her breath. _

_ “Hey! Do you need any help?” the boy asked, cheerfully.  _

_ Ericka looked at him warily. “Uh, yeah,” she said, awkwardly. “Thanks.” _

_ The boy exited the compartment completely. “You wanna sit here? I’m pretty sure the other compartments are full by now. Are you a first year too? What house do you think you’ll get into?” he babbled while hefting the trunk up, mostly by himself, since Ericka doubted she was doing much of the heavy lifting as they hauled her trunk to the top of the compartment. _

_ “Err…” Ericka was taken aback by the influx of questions, unsure of which to answer first. _

_ “Oh, sorry!” The boy laughed sheepishly. “My mom says I need to give people time to answer. I’m Damien, by the way! Damien Haas.” He stuck his hand out with a blinding smile. _

_ Ericka stared at him, unable to comprehend the amount of energy radiating off the boy only a few inches taller than her. Still, she took the hand. “Bozeman,” she said. _

_ Damien cocked his head slightly to the side, like a confused puppy. “Bozeman?” he repeated. “That’s a cool name.” _

_ Ericka shrugged. “It’s my last name. I prefer it.” _

_ Damien nodded at the response, bouncing back into the compartment and sitting on one side. “I’ll call you Boze,” he declared. “It’s shorter.” _

_ Ericka contemplated the nickname. She had to admit, she kind of liked it. Plus, it felt even further from her given name. _

_ “I like it,” she said, finally. Damien gave her a smile in turn.  _

_ Boze carefully sat in the seat opposite of him, and as soon as she did, a cat’s head popped out from underneath the seat and meowed loudly at her. She jumped a bit, startled. _

_ “Freyja!” Damien scolded, reaching out to pick up the cat. “Sorry, I forgot she was napping there. _

_ Another meow came from the top of Damien’s trunk, a small cat perched on top. It hopped down, landing perfectly on his shoulders.  _

_ “Boze, this is Freyja.” Damien was beaming, holding up his cat lovingly.  _

_ Boze eyed them warily. “I’m not a huge fan of cats. Or animals.” _

_ “Don’t worry!” Damien assured her. “She’s friendly. See?” _

_ She looked at the fluffy cat, who stared back at her with an unimpressed expression, but otherwise only yawned and rolled over onto its back on Damien’s legs. She had to admit, it looked pretty harmless.  _

_ “You can hold her if you want,” Damien offered. _

_ Boze shook her head. “No thanks. I was thinking about getting an owl, but decided it’d be too much work.” _

_ “Do you know what house you want to get put into?” Damien asked, curiously.  _

_ Boze shrugged. “My whole family’s been in Slytherin, but I don’t really care about that kind of thing,” she added the last part, because she didn’t recognize the name Haas, but that didn’t mean there weren’t already people who didn’t like Slytherin families on principle. _

_ Damien didn’t seem to care, either. “Cool! I’m the first person in my family to come to Hogwarts, so I’m not sure where I’m gonna end up. Still, it’s not definite you’ll get the same house as your family. You could be in Hufflepuff for all you know! I think I’ll either end up there or in Ravenclaw, based on the stuff I’ve read so far. Are you nervous about the sorting?” _

_ Boze shrugged again. “Kind of, I guess,” she tried to sound as uncaring as possible. “There’s not much I can do, but I’ll fight the hat if it tries to put me in either Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. My parents would disown me.” She meant to make this last bit at least sound like a joke, but it came out more bitter than she intended. _

_ Damien also seemed to catch on. “Hey, there’s a great deal of honor in any house you get sorted into,” he said, firmly. “Any house would be lucky to have you in it! Besides, who really cares what house you’re in at school? It’s really just where you live and sleep. Besides, if the hat puts you in a house, it’s because it believes you’ll succeed the most there.” _

_ Boze stared at him as he continued rambling, a feeling akin to fondness growing. Yes, she could certainly see him as either a Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw. _

_ “Are you a muggle-born?” Boze asked, hoping he wouldn’t be too offended by the question, but she wasn’t the type to beat around the bush. “I mean, I don’t care, but you said you were the first to come to Hogwarts.” _

_ “Oh, no, my whole family’s got magic,” he corrected. “But everyone on my dad’s side has gone to Durmstrang. He and the rest of my family were not happy when my mom made the decision to move my sister and I here. My mom found a new job at the Ministry, so we moved a few years ago. And she didn’t want me going to school too far, and she had gone to school at Beauxbatons, so she wasn’t too fond of Durmstrang in the first place.” _

_ Boze tried not to look incredulous. Who wanted to move here and send their child to Hogwarts? She was pretty sure that pure-bloods sent their kids to Hogwarts nowadays for the tradition and social advantages, for all that the school claimed to be the most prestigious wizarding school in the world. Damien might be a pure-blood, but it didn’t matter if his family name had no meaning to anyone in the school. He didn’t realize it, but he was going to be torn to shreds as soon as other kids heard his name. He was basically a muggleborn, in some people’s eyes.  _

But with your name... _ a voice in her head told her.  _ No one would bother him. 

_ Boze promptly squashed the voice in her head.  _

_ Conversation carried on for the next couple hours or so about their lives and what they were interested to learn about at Hogwarts, Boze eventually relaxing and settling into the seat. Damien absentmindedly stroked the top of Freyja’s head, causing the cat to purr contentedly.  _

_ “Candy from the trolley?” a woman chirped from outside, knocking on the door. _

_ “Ooh.” Damien’s eyes brightened. “Can I have a chocolate frog and a box of Bertie Botts?” Then, he turned to look at Boze. “You getting anything?” _

_ Boze shook her head; her parents hadn’t given her any spending money. Nonetheless, she eyed the trolley full of sweets wistfully. _

_ Damien looked at her for a moment longer, then turned back to the candy lady. “Make that two chocolate frogs!” He held out a small fistful of sickles. _

_ Boze stared at the boy with wide eyes as he happily took the candy he purchased. He held out the extra box to Boze with a goofy smile. She carefully accepted it, eyes wide. _

_ “I love these,” Damien said, excitedly tearing into the box and catching the frog before it could escape. _

_ Boze slowly opened the box, grabbing the frog and taking a bite out of the frog’s leg. She held up the card, her first chocolate frog card. _

_ The face of Helga Hufflepuff stared back at her, smiling warmly and waving. She looked up from the frog to see Damien happily biting off the leg of his own frog before opening the box of Bertie Botts’ Every Flavor Beans. _

_ She looked back down at the card, then back up at Damien. He had eaten a bean, and was now making a disgusted but intrigued face while trying to figure out what the it was flavored.  _

_ “Oh, it tastes like parchment,” Damien informed her, laughing a bit and popping another, red colored bean into his mouth. _

_ Damien was probably right, about what he said about the hat putting her into the house she was best suited for. If she ended up in Slytherin and Damien didn’t, she could only imagine what that might spell for their potential friendship once he figured out the social politics that had followed her throughout her entire life. Not to mention she’d have herself to watch out for if she was in the snake pit.  _

_ She thought about her siblings, both Slytherin alum who had dropped off the face of the Earth and left her as the sole heir of the family after being disinherited. The amount of flack she would get from the other Slytherin students would be absolutely insufferable, even as the sole heir to the Bozeman name and fortune.  _

_ Boze took a bean and popped it into her mouth thoughtfully, then made a face. The repulsive taste pulled her out of her thoughts. “Yuck,” she gagged. _

_ “What’d you get?” Damien asked curiously. _

_ “I think it’s… oh, Merlin, it’s tree bark,” Boze groaned. _

_ Damien laughed a bit. The rest of the train ride carried on as such, until they arrived at Hogwarts. They were both wearing their black robes as they exited the train and hopped onto the boats that carried them over the lake. _

_ “Wow,” Damien whispered, breathlessly. Boze silently agreed, eyes glued to the sight before them. _

_ The castle was enormous, its windows lit with golden lights and the moon and stars peeking out from behind the silhouette. Boze had never seen anything like it. _

_ They were herded into the castle and through a winding staircase until they were finally led through a giant set of iron doors and into the Great Hall. It had four long tables going up and down the hall, and another long table at the very back, clearly for the teachers who occupied it. The tall hall was littered with floating candles, which glowed bright bellow the swirling night sky that the ceiling was enchanted to look like. _

_ She was so engrossed in the sight of the Great Hall that she didn’t even notice the sorting had begun until they called her name. _

_ “Bozeman, Ericka!” _

_ She winced at the use of her first name. Damien gave her a warm smile of encouragement as she stepped up to the stool, allowing the professor to drop the oversized, worn out hat on her head. _

Interesting mind, yes, very interesting…

_ Boze’s eyes widened. Her siblings had told her about the sorting, of course, but it was still unexpected to hear a voice in her head. _

You are cunning, and ambitious, so perhaps it’ll be Slytherin like the rest of your family… But no, you are quite different from them. Yes, very different indeed. Your siblings did not form such loyalty to a single person as quickly as you, nor were they as hardworking.

No! _ , Boze found herself thinking, urgently.  _ There’s no way Damien will be in Slytherin. I can’t be-

No? Such loyalty to a single person, and so quickly. Perhaps it’s best that you be in-

_ “HUFFLEPUFF!” _

Good luck, Bozeman. You will need it _ , was the last thing she heard before the professor pulled the hat off her head. She stared at it for a moment, the polite applause ringing in her ears as she shakily stepped down to the table full of badgers, eyeing her suspiciously. She caught Damien’s eye in the line up still, and he gave her a thumbs up and a big grin. Boze smiled a little back, hoping to herself that he would join her in Hufflepuff.  _

_ A few students later, the professor finally called out, “Haas, Damien!” _

_ The boy excitedly jumped up to the stool. It took a few moments, but finally the hat shouted, “RAVENCLAW!” _

_ Boze was disappointed, but still clapped loudly and smiled as the boy joined the cheering blue table. At least she wasn’t in Slytherin… she turned back to her housemates, none of whom had bothered to try and speak to her yet. Not that she was surprised; she knew her family’s name and what people associated with it. Hopefully, the yellow tie around her neck meant people would at least start dissociating her from her family’s reputation. She winced at the thought of her family as she glanced at the Slytherin table, many of whom were family friends and/or distant relatives. Even if she didn’t write home, she should certainly be expecting a howler soon. She quietly ate the food that was presented, not even bothering to pay attention to Professor Todd give his welcome speech or her housemates chatter about their summer or classes. She went to bed as soon as she got to her dorm, not shutting the curtains so as to avoid making conversation with her new roommates. _

_ She woke up the next morning still in a bad mood, but earlier than the other girls, so she headed out to the Great Hall as soon as she could. She took a bite of toast as a figure slid into the seat beside her. _

_ “Morning, Boze!” Damien said, cheerfully. _

_ Boze choked a bit on her toast. She coughed, swallowing as she turned to look at the Ravenclaw. “Damien? What are you doing here?” _

_ Damien cocked his head to the side. “Eating?” _

_ Boze huffed out a bit of a laugh. “I know that. I mean, why are you sitting here?” _

_ Damien shrugged. “You looked lonely. Besides, I thought we could compare schedules and see what classes we had together!” _

_ “But, this is the Hufflepuff table,” Boze said, confused. Damien seemed to match her confusion. _

_ “Am I not allowed to sit here?” _

_ Boze furrowed her eyebrows. “I… don’t know, honestly,” she admitted. “I don’t think it’s technically against the rules…” _

_ “Great,” Damien said, with a smile. “Anyways, I have potions first thing…” _

_ She stared at Damien began to ramble off about his schedule and the classes that he was excited about. She could only watch his friendliness and excitement grow with every moment, aware of but not bothered by the stares they were receiving from the other members of her and Damien’s respective houses. Her heart warmed a bit at the thought that Damien didn’t care that they were in separate houses; that he wanted to sit and talk with her because he liked her, not because they were in the same house, not because he wanted to make alliances, and not because he knew her only for her family’s reputation.  _

_ “So looks like we’ll have Transfiguration and Potions together,” Boze cut him off, a small smile growing on her face. “And all of the first years have flying together, so-“ She stopped short as soon as she noticed a familiar tawny owl swoop in from the high windows of the Great Hall. It dropped a familiar red envelope in her plate. _

_ Boze felt her stomach drop, staring at the red envelope. She didn’t think her face betrayed her feeling of dread, but Damien clearly caught on quick enough. _

_ “Is that-“ Damien’s eyes widened. _

_ “Howler, probably from my mom,” Boze mumbled, already resigned to her fate as the envelope began smoking and shaking. “Shit, I knew this was going to happen.” She braced herself for the explosion, ready for the shrill screeching of her mother to fill the Great Hall and project her disownment to the entire school. _

_ But it never came. She stared at Damien in shock, eyes wide as her brain finally caught up with her eyes. The howler had disintegrated before it could even unfold itself, and she knew it wasn’t her magic that had done that.  _

_ “How-“ she stammered. “You- was that you.” She let out a breathless laugh, feeling a little light-headed from the relief   _

_ Damien rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “I’d apologize, but I figure you don’t want to get yelled at in public. If your mom wants to tell you something, she should just write you a normal letter.” _

_ Boze stared up at Damien, smiling with relief and gratitude. “Thanks, Damien.” _

_ He smiled back. “No problem!” _

_ Boze glanced around them, seeing the wide eyes and pointing and the whispers from those who had seen what Damien was capable of even accidentally. Boze turned her gaze to the ashes of the howler, determination in her heart at the thought of people using her new friend just for the show of power he had let slip in front of everyone.  _

_ Boze might not be a Slytherin, but she was a Hufflepuff. And she was going to have to remind people that Hufflepuffs were loyal to a fault, and certainly not afraid of getting their hands dirty if it meant protecting those they cared about. _


	11. Chapter 11 - Damien

**October 31st**

“So while they do whatever,” Boze started, looking up at the two of them. “I think we should do a bit of research into dementors.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Damien agreed, and Shayne nodded. 

They made a pit stop at the Great Hall to eat a quick dinner, before heading to the library. It was completely abandoned, as they expected. 

Damien pulled several books and let them slam onto the table in front of them. They each pulled a book and began searching for any sort of useful information. 

“The Ministry of Magic considers them  _ non-beings _ , rather than creatures,” Boze said, not looking up from her book. “That’s probably why I couldn’t find any information in  _ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them _ .” She pushed said book to the other side of the table. 

“Dementors have always been inexplicably tied to Azkaban,” Damien added, setting his own book down. “We should probably see if we can find any books on the history of Azkaban.”

“Got it.” Shayne reached for his wand and flicked it lazily, causing a couple books to fly off the shelves above them and float down to the table. 

“Lazy bones,” Boze teased. Shayne grinned back sheepishly.

They lapsed back into silence, focusing quietly on their own books. Shayne eventually spoke up.

“This book says that when the Ministry discovered the existence of the island, they also discovered the first colony of dementors,” Shayne read. 

“Discovered the island?” Damien echoed. 

Shayne glanced at the book. “Yeah. The island and fortress initially were hidden under a bunch of concealment charms by the dark wizard Ekrizdis. When he died, the charms faded and the Ministry discovered the place. Apparently, he would lure muggle sailors to the island to torture and kill them.” He grimaced. 

“So the Ministry just decided to turn the fortress into a prison?” Damien asked incredulously.

Shayne shook his head. “Not immediately. They were so afraid of possible backlash from the dark creatures that inhabited the island and the amount of dark magic itself, that they abandoned the island until Minister Rowle was elected in 1718.”

“Prolonged exposure to dementors cause insanity and possibly death,” Boze said, sounding horrified. “People literally lose the will to live. You mean to tell me this has been going on for centuries now and no one’s tried to, I dunno, get rid of them?”

Shayne grimaced again. “One of my ancestors tried to, actually. Eldritch Topp was minister back in the 1730s, but he died before he could find an alternative. A lot of people also were afraid of a mainland invasion if the dementors were cut off from their food source, so the next Minister just put in a bunch of laws that made it virtually impossible to reverse the decisions made about Azkaban.”

The three fell into stunned silence, looking at each other with sickened expressions. 

“It’s still a huge controversial issue now,” Shayne said, finally. “A lot of people feel safer that the dementors make it so Azkaban is virtually inescapable, but others believe that dementors are too fickle, too unreliable to be trusted amongst the worst of the worst.”

“Not to mention the enormous violations of basic human rights that goes on in there,” Damien said, curtly. 

Shayne nodded. “That too.”

“I had a great uncle who was in Azkaban,” Boze said, suddenly. Damien and Shayne looked at her, startled. She looked pale. “I only really knew him when I was younger. He was really cool, super nice to us, came around for the holidays. But he got in trouble for messing with some muggles, really badly apparently. My parents never really told us, but we found out he was sentenced to a few months. And after that... he wasn’t the same. He didn’t come around as often, didn’t laugh or play with us kids, and when he did come over, he’d just drink himself unconscious. He died a year later, but no adult bothered to tell me how, at the time. My brother told me that he used the killing curse, but my sister said it was despair that  _ really _ killed him in the end.”

Damien felt a chill go down his spine. Shayne’s face was white, and Boze was staring blankly at the table in front of them. Realizing he was the one who’d have to snap them out of it, Damien audibly shut his book and said firmly, “Let’s stop for tonight.”

They both looked at him, hesitating, but slowly followed him in putting away the books and walking out of the library for the night. 

It was well past midnight in the Gryffindor common room when Mari, Joven, and Sohinki crept in. 

Damien peeked over the couch he, Shayne, and Boze were lying on. Shayne and Boze had fallen asleep, Boze leaning on the arm rest with her legs kicked over Damien’s lap, and Shayne with his head tucked on Damien’s shoulder and a wool blanket haphazardly thrown over half his legs and half Boze’s. 

“Hey,” he murmured to the approaching trio, trying not to shift so as to not disturb Boze and Shayne’s sleep. 

“Hey,” Mari said, managing a weak smile. Damien caught sight of her face as they moved around the couch to sit in the other chairs surrounding the fireplace. Her eyes were saddened, face set heavy with tragedy. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, quietly and gently. 

“We tried to hold a sèance,” Sohinki said, for Mari.

Damien’s eyes widened. “On Hallowe’en?” he demanded, whispering still. “I thought- I thought you were kidding about that. That’s crazy dangerous. Borderline dark magic- taboo.”

“Relax,” Joven said, mouth pressed into an unhappy line. “Nothing happened.”

Damien looked at him. “Nothing?”

“Nothing,” Mari confirmed, choked up. “Not even a whisper.”

Unable to think of anything else to say, Damien said, “I’m sorry.”

Mari shrugged, trying to be as nonchalant as possible. “It’s fine. We shouldn’t have gotten our hopes up anyways.”

“Still,” Joven said, a little frustratedly. “I don’t know why we couldn’t even hear a whisper. I thought we’d get something at least, given that it’s Hallowe’en.”

“Did you guys at least learn anything?” Damien asked, hopefully. 

“Not much,” Sohinki admitted. “Just the bare basics about ghosts. Only wizards can become ghosts, something about their souls being strong enough to sustain themselves past death, but few choose to come back. Only those with unfinished business come back as ghosts.”

Damien couldn’t help but shiver. “I don’t understand- then why wouldn’t Flitz come back?”

The trio looked at each other. Finally, Mari said, “Your guess is as good as ours. Flitz has always been the wisest of all of us, though. Maybe he just decided he wouldn’t want to spend the rest of eternity as a mere imprint on this mortal plane.”

“Besides,” Joven added. “Spirits only become ghosts if they were deeply afraid of death, or had a strong connection to the place of their haunting. Flitz feared things, but death was not one of them.”

Damien nodded, accepting the answer. “Well, we did a bit of reading on dementors and Azkaban.”

Their ears perked up a bit. 

“What’d you find?” Joven asked, curious. 

“Other than the egregious violation of basic human rights?” Damien quipped, dryly. “A lot of stuff. Most importantly for us, though, is that they were first discovered on the island that now houses Azkaban, and that the only defense against them is the patronus spell.”

“Okay.” Mari bit her lip. “I think we should all learn that spell.”

Sohinki’s eyebrows shot up. “What’re you, crazy? That’s an incredibly difficult charm that most adult wizards can’t even master,” he said, incredulously.

“I don’t think we have much choice,” Damien pointed out, warily.

Joven nodded in agreement. “If this thing that killed Flitz is really a dementor or related to one of some kind, then it’s still out there, and the only defense might be this charm.”

“Dementors work for the ministry, though,” Sohinki protested, weakly.

“Maybe at Azkaban,” Mari agreed. “But there is a great deal of people who are concerned with their fickle and selfish nature.”

“They don’t care who they feed on,” Damien added. “Just that they eat.”

Sohinki was pale, but nodded anyways. “Okay. We should get started tomorrow.” 

They all nodded and fell into silence, too tired to stand and do anything more than relax fully into their respective seats. 

Sohinki and Joven fell asleep, half leaning on one another on the other couch while Mari curled up on the armchair comfortably. Eventually, Damien managed to doze off, but his dreams were filled with swooping dementors, unbearable feelings of despair, and a pair of cold, empty eyes.

* * *

 

_ Four Years Ago, October 22 _

_ It’s not that Damien expected classes to be easy, but he hadn’t expected it to be nigh impossible.  _

_ The frustration was growing. The first couple weeks had been discouraging, but now it was getting ridiculous.  _

_ “I just don’t understand,” he said, miserably collapsing into the chair.  _

_ Boze sat across from him, giving him a sympathetic look. Damien felt a little bad that Boze had to put up with his frustrations in class as well as defend him from various bullies, but his relief outweighed the guilt.  _

_ “I don’t either,” Boze said, grimacing. “I can’t even think of a teacher you haven’t asked for help yet. Maybe we could try looking for some books.” _

_ Damien shook his head. “You go on ahead to dinner. It’s not your fault that I’m basically a squib.”  _

_ It was true; it’s what everyone said. Damien could barely manage a levitation charm, something the rest of his class had managed weeks ago. He had had multiple incidents of accidental magic and the like, but his wand never seemed to do what he wanted it to. The other students had clearly locked onto Damien as an easy target, with his inability to perform wand magic and proficiency in other subjects like History of Magic and Astronomy, where memorization and genuine interest helped mostly.  _

_ “Don’t say that,” Boze said, so sharply that it startled him. “You’re not a squib. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. That hat put you in Ravenclaw for a reason.” She pulled her bag strap over her shoulder and left the library, leaving Damien alone to his own thoughts.  _

_ “I think this might help you.” _

_ Damien turned to see a familiar, blonde haired Gryffindor peeking out from behind a bookcase. He was holding a thick, leatherbound book.  _

_ “You’re Shayne, right?” Damien stood up. “Shayne Topp.” _

_ Shayne walked a bit closer, holding the book out like an offering. “Uh, yeah.” _

_ Damien took the book gratefully. “I never got to say thanks for the other day- for defending me, I mean.” _

_ Shayne shrugged, like it was no big deal. Like he wasn’t only only other person other than Boze to defend him. _

_ “What’s this book?” Damien asked, changing the subject.  _

_ “It’s about the magical core, and its relationship to the wand,” Shayne explained. “The wand chooses the wizard, after all. I think you just need to figure out why your wand chose you.” _

_ “What do you mean?” Damien furrowed his eyebrows.  _

_ Shayne tapped the book. “It explains it better in here, but the way each witch or wizard taps into their magical core is unique. It’s why your wand suits you over any other. Most people figure this out quite naturally, but a few rare people can struggle with it. My oldest brother had that problem too when he’d started learning from his tutors, but it was before Hogwarts started.” _

_ Damien grimaced. “So I’m one of the few lucky ones who can’t pick up magic naturally. Great.” _

_ Shayne shook his head. “No, it’s actually a sign of an abnormally large magical core. Other signs include a natural affinity to wandless magic, and more frequent incidents of accidental magic or bursts of accidental magic past when they usually stop.” _

_ Damien’s eyebrows shot up. “And- and this book will help me?” _

_ Shayne nodded. “Hopefully,” he said, earnestly.  _

_ Damien smiled at him, heart warmed by the gesture. “Thanks, man.” _

_ Shayne looked a little sheepish now, rubbing the back of his neck. “Don’t worry about it. If you need any help, though- I, uh, I’m kind of sick of eating with my roommates... They’re kind of annoying, to say the least.” _

_ “You’re welcome to stay here,” Damien offered, picking up what Shaybe was trying to say. “I’m not going to dinner either.” _

_ “Yeah, sounds good.” Shayne smiled softly and sat down at the chair Boze had abandoned.  _

_ “So where should we start?” Damien asked, eyeing the thick book.  _

_ Shayne hummed, contemplatively. “Well, what do you normally do when you try to cast a spell?” _

_ Damien shrugged. “I just copy the wand movements the professor does. But it never feels right. Before starting school, it felt more natural to try make things happen- I don’t know, without a wand and without actual spells.” _

_ Shayne’s eyebrows rose ever so slightly, but he didn’t seem surprised, given his explanation of wandless magic beforehand.  _

_ “Well, when you want to levitate something, how do you control your wandless magic?” _

_ Damien bit his lip thoughtfully. “Hm, I guess I just... it’s instinctual, I suppose. Without thinking.” _

_ Shayne hummed to himself. “Well, a wand isn’t too different,” he said, slowly. “It’s just like... an extension of you.” He paused, trying to find the words to explain. “An extension of your magic. Just a different outlet to channel your magic through. Don’t think about the wand movements, it should just slow naturally. The wand movements are supposed to support the incantation, which is what directe the raw magic.” _

_ Damien looked at the book thoughtfully, soaking in Shayne’s words. “Okay.”  _

_ He took a deep breath, focusing on his magic and how it would feel without the use of his wand. His face set with determination, he lifted his wand and carefully recited, “Wingardium Leviosa!” _

_ To his surprise and pleasure, the book began levitating slowly, floating mid air.  _

_ “Look!” Damien cried out, proud and unable to contain his volume in the quiet library. “I did it!” _

_ Shayne was beaming at him. “Nice job!” _

_ Damien’s heart was thumping in his chest from excitement. “Thank you so much, Shayne.” _

_ Shayne grinned back. “Don’t thank me,” he said, brushing aside Damien’s gratitude gracefully. “I knew you could do it.” _


	12. Chapter 12 - Shayne

**December 15th**

“Hey, Shayne?” 

Shayne looked up, Professor Padilla catching his attention as he stood up, prepared to leave the classroom with his classmates. “Could you stay for a bit?”

Shayne paused, his bag thrown over his shoulder. Keith, one of the only roommates he could stand, paused at the trapdoor. Shayne waved him off. “I’ll be fine, I’ll see you at lunch. Just tell Boze and Damien not to freak out.”

Keith nodded, and climbed down the ladder. 

“What’s up?” He glanced at the trapdoor leading out of the room, where he knew Boze and Damien would be waiting for him. 

“I just wanted to ask a favor,” Padilla leaned against his desk. “A couple of my students are really struggling in my class. They’re a year below you, and since you’re one of my top students, I thought you might be up for the job.”

Shayne blinked in slight surprise. “Oh, well,” he hesitated. 

“If you do this,” Padilla was quick to add, “I’ll give you full credit for the homework assignments for the next semester.”

Shayne’s eyes widened. Divination wasn’t exactly the most difficult subject, but the homework was often rather time consuming. Not to mention, they’d kind of hit a dead end in their investigations after a full month with no leads. It was almost the end of the semester, and if Shayne could guarantee he would worry about one less thing for the next semester, he’d certainly take it. Without giving it another thought, he hastily agreed. “Yeah, sure. I’d be happy to.”

Padilla smiled. “Thank you, Shayne, really.” He looked relieved, but not surprised that Shayne had agreed. “The students are Noah Grossman and Olivia Sui. They’re both Hufflepuffs in the year below you. Does four o’clock on Wednesday work for you?”

Shayne nodded; with Quidditch season over, and their group’s patronus training sessions on Mondays and Thursdays, his Wednesday was completely free. 

“Perfect. I’ll tell them to meet you in the library then.” Padilla clasped his hands together, looking pleased. “Thanks again, Shayne.”

“No problem, Professor,” Shayne said, and adjusted the strap and headed out of the attic. 

As expected, Boze and Damien were waiting for him at the bottom of the ladder. 

“What’s up?” Damien asked, curiously. “Keith said Professor Padilla wanted to talk with you.”

“Yeah,” Shayne said, as they headed to the Great Hall. “He asked if I could tutor a couple Hufflepuff third years. Olivia and Noah?” He directed this to Boze, who blinked. 

“Yeah, I think I know them. Keep to themselves, mostly. The rest of their classmates stay away from them,” Boze said. 

Shayne cocked an eyebrow. “Why’s that?” he asked, slightly cautious, but mostly curious. 

Boze shrugged. “Something about them’s a bit off, personally. I think they’re both kinda weirdos, and no one really interacts with them unless they have to.”

Damien tensed a bit. “Well,” he said, slowly. “We’ll go with you when you’re meeting them. When are you tutoring them?”

“Um,” Shayne furrowed his eyebrows. “Wednesdays at 4.”

Boze and Damien then looked at him, slightly alarmed. 

“That’s when I have dueling club,” Damien said.

“And I still have detention that day.” Boze added. 

Shayne’s eyes widened, as the three stopped dead in their tracks, looking at one another anxiously. The three of them had not completely separated since the school year had begun. They had figured it would be inevitable at some point, but the unexpectedness of it made Shayne’s heart race. 

“I- I can skip the club,” Damien said, finally.

“No you can’t,” Shayne countered. “You want to be president next year. You can’t miss a practice.”

“One won’t hurt,” Damien argued, but his voice wavered. 

“You’re going up against Wesley Johnson for president,” Shayne said, resignedly. “You need as much edge as possible.”

Damien looked upset at the logic, so Boze cut in. 

“I could ditch detention,” she suggested. 

“No way,” Shayne shot down instantly. “You miss one, and that adds another week. You’re almost done, too.”

“It’s not so bad,” she said, looking downcast. “Just helping Professor Hecox in the Room of Requirement. We’re making a lot of headway.”

“Still, the sooner we get out out of detention, the better.” Shayne ran a hand through his hair. 

Damien and Boze both looked unhappy at the thought of Shayne being virtually alone with no one they particularly trusted. Shayne suddenly perked up, an idea springing. 

“Oh, how about I bring Keith with me?” Shayne suggested. “He’s also in divination.”

Boze hesitated, but Damien nodded slowly. She eventually relented, like Shayne knew she would, because they all liked Keith. He was a bit more introverted than most, but he would hang out with Shayne, Damien, and Boze once in a while. He was one of the few that seemed to understand their need to be near each other and the anxiety that came with separating, so Shayne figured he’d agree to help him relatively easily. 

“Make sure you’re always with Professor Hecox though,” Shayne said to Boze. “And keep on your toes. We don’t want another incident like back in September.”

Boze grimaced at the memory. “Yeah, yeah, you worrywart,” she teased, but smiled at him. “Dames, stay in Bereta’s line of sight.”

“Of course.” Damien nodded, relatively serious. They lapsed into a comfortable silence again, the thought of their impending separation weighing heavily on each of them. 

“We’ll be fine,” Shayne said, looking at his best friends while trying to convey more confidence than he felt. “We’ll be fine.”

* * *

**December 17th**

Shayne was certainly not fine. 

He didn’t think it was going to be that difficult to be away from Boze and Damien, but after about months of almost nonstop contact with them, it was uncomfortable not being with them. 

Keith, always observant, seemed to notice his discomfort. “Hey, man,” he said, quietly, as they entered the library. “You alright?”

Shayne let out a shaky breath. “Yeah, I’m good, man. Thanks.”

Keith nodded as they walked past the tall bookcases to a section in the back. “Remember, Damien’s just in the dungeons with a whole bunch of people plus Professor Bereta, and Boze is with Professor Hecox,” he gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. 

Shayne nodded back. “Thanks, Keith,” he said, sincerely grateful for his friend. 

“You said they’re third years?” Keith changed the subject. 

“Yeah, failing Divination.”

Keith quirked an eyebrow. “How the hell do you fail Divination?”

When they arrived at the round table, the two Hufflepuffs were already seated. 

He recognized Olivia, Shayne realized, now that she was in front of him, though he had never been able to put name to face. She was a second string chaser for the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, but was basically guaranteed to make first string next year when their captain graduated. Olivia was about just a couple inches shorter than Shayne, and had her long, black hair tied up in a messy bun. Her wand was stuck in her bun, an odd place for most people, but no one questioned Olivia Sui anymore, especially, Boze added in a cheerful anecdote, after everyone saw her send Mark Jacobs to the hospital wing last year in retaliation for hexing Noah in a busy corridor. 

Noah, on the other hand, was a complete stranger to Shayne, aside from being able to match his name to his face. He wore thick framed glasses and had his yellow and black tie wrapped around his forehead like a bandana instead of around his neck. Even though he was just a year younger, Noah was at least a head shorter than Shayne, and was much lankier and had narrow shoulders. Somehow, though, Shayne got the feeling Noah was going to sprout up, much like Damien had the summer going into their fourth year. 

Boze had given him a little bit of information to work with. 

“Don’t know them,” she had admitted. “Just that they’re sort of outcasts in their year, and in our house. They stick together though. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one without the other.”

“What makes them outcasts?” Shayne had asked. 

“I dunno, I think they just keep to themselves a bit more. Noah’s a muggleborn, and he’s always trying to bring in muggle stuff to Hogwarts. It’s kinda weird to people, I guess. He writes with these featherless quills and wears his uniform differently like everyday.”

“They’re called pens, Boze,” Damien had corrected, with a slight laugh. 

“And Olivia does this one-on-one tutor session with Professor Todd for alchemy. Super cool that she’s smart enough for it, but she’s really weird apparently.”

Shayne looked at the younger Hufflepuffs and offered them a friendly smile. “Hey, I’m Shayne Topp,” he pulled his bag off his shoulder and sat down. “Professor Padilla said you guys might need some help in divination?”

Noah perked up a bit, all the while Olivia frowned. “Yeah,” he said, “You’re the Shayne he mentioned?” He sounded doubtful.

Shayne wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Padilla apparently hadn’t even mentioned his last name. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“You can’t help much,” Olivia said, bluntly. “Padilla’s been failing us on all the homework assignments and tests. For the most absurd things! Look!”

She pulled out a parchment and slid it across the table. 

It was an essay written in neat cursive, with a bright red letter P on it. Shayne skimmed it, but couldn’t find much wrong with the essays, which was especially strange since Professor Padilla was known for writing extensive comments and notes. Shayne always got a kick out of reading his comments on his own essays. 

“It’s a little embarrassing,” Olivia admitted, “but Professor Padilla is failing us. I thought this was supposed to be an easy O class.”

Shayne and Keith looked at each other, equally confused.

“Uh, yeah,” Keith said. “It’s supposed to be.”

“Yeah,” Shayne agreed. “Everyone knows it’s a blow off class. Professor Padilla’s so chill. You just need to write bullshit for the homework.”

And it was true. Divination was the biggest joke at Hogwarts- it wasn’t even taught by an actual seer. The class was notoriously known to have only one test, the final, which was required by the Hogwarts curriculum, and even that test was open-notes. The rest of class consisted of drinking tea and making up some imagery for the remaining tea leaves, or writing down some “meaningful” dream and explaining its deeper meaning. 

Shayne did enjoy the class, if he was being honest. Professor Padilla was a pretty funny guy, and always gave him O’s regardless of the content of the essay. 

“He just fails us on every assignment. Our essays get T’s and D’s, our participation points barely scrape an P,” Noah explained.

“Yeah,” Olivia was frowning deeply. “And every time we ask him what we’re doing wrong, he just gives us some weird explanation that doesn’t make any sense and finds some reason to either excuse himself or kick us out of the room.”

“Weird,” Shayne said, eyebrows furrowed. Padilla was a strange guy, no doubt about it; one couldn’t teach  _ Divination  _ and be totally sane, really. Still, even this was strange behavior for the professor.

“Maybe if we look through some of your essays we can see what he might be failing you on,” Keith suggested.

They spent the next half hour pouring over their essays, trying to figure out what might cause their usually lenient professor to fail them, but to no avail. 

“I don’t understand.” Keith finally slammed the essay he’d been reading on the table. “Some of his comments on these essays don’t even make any sense!”

“I know what you mean,” Shayne groaned, rubbing his eyes. “He just circled the word ‘moon’ in this essay and wrote a question mark next to it.”

“You haven’t read the essay where he took off ten points because my name was written larger than the title,” Olivia deadpanned. 

“I’ve never even heard of Professor Padilla giving anyone an EE, much less a Troll,” Noah grumbled. 

“Me neither,” Shayne admitted, with a sigh. “It’s because of the nature of the class- I’m honestly not even sure why this class is still a part of the curriculum. Not like anyone but real seers have any use for this class, and they’re so rare anyways. I doubt Hogwarts has even seen a real seer in, like, a century.”

Just as he said this, Noah and Olivia glanced at each other.

“What?” Keith asked, looking at them warily.

“Nothing.” Olivia shook her head. 

Shayne leaned forward a bit. “If it can help, can’t hurt to just say it,” he pointed out.

“Courtney Miller,” Noah said, suddenly. 

Olivia was making a face. Shayne and Keith gave him confused looks.

“Noah...” Olivia said, lips pursed.

“Who’s Courtney Miller?” Shayne asked, confused, Keith nodding at the question. 

“She’s a Ravenclaw muggleborn in our year,” Noah answered. “Barely says more than a word at a time to anyone. I don’t think I’ve ever even heard her speak.”

“How would she help your problems in Divination?” Keith was confused. 

Noah and Olivia looked at each other for a moment. Finally, Olivia sighed. 

“There are rumors that she’s a seer,” she explained. “Unfounded, of course, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s also the top of our class and has the highest marks in Divination, and she’s really close to Professor Padilla.”

“Okay...” Shayne considered. “She seems like a good candidate. And why all the hesitation?”

Noah looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Well... she...”

“She’s weird,” Olivia said, bluntly. “Which, yeah, I know, a bit hypocritical of me, sure. But still, she always stares at me whenever I pass her. Like, not just a regular stare, but like, she gets this far away look, like she knows me better than I know myself.”

“She does that with everyone,” Noah added. “It’s really unnerving, actually. It’s no wonder those rumors got started- it’s like she can literally see right through your soul.”

“Still, she may be our best option,” Keith pointed out. 

“What’s the harm in just asking?” Shayne added. “You guys wanted to pass right?”

Noah still looked hesitant while Olivia looked downright unhappy with the idea.

“I guess, if you’re down for it,” Noah finally agreed, reluctantly. Olivia pursed her lips together, then sighed. 

“Fine.”

“Where is she normally?” Shayne asked. 

“The Restricted Section,” Noah said. “People say she’s had special permission to study in there since first year from the Headmaster himself.”

Shayne’s eyes widened. “What?” he demanded. “I’ve been trying to get a professor to write me permission since I was eleven!” He protested. 

Keith snorted. “Most professors are smart enough to not let Shayne Topp have access to potentially dangerous spells.” 

Shayne huffed, but conceded that Keith probably had a point. He could only imagine the amount of chaos he, Boze, and Damien would have sown if they had had access to the Restricted Section.  _ Jeez, when Damien hears about this, he is going to flip. _

“Okay, so how do we talk to her if she’s in the restricted section?”

The four looked at each other thoughtfully. Shayne then looked at Keith meaningfully, and said, “Distraction?”

Keith let out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll do it.” He stood up. “When you hear the signal, get ready to run into the Restricted Section. Remember, this is on you next time.” He pointed at Shayne during his last statement before disappearing behind several shelves. 

“What’s he doing?” Noah asked, confused.

“Don’t worry about it,” Shayne said. “Just get ready to head in.”

Olivia pulled out her wand as the three crept toward the locked gate of the restricted section. In the distance, they heard a small explosion and several cries. 

“ _ Alohomora _ !” Olivia incanted, causing the gates to unlock and the three to slide in. Shayne made sure to leave the gate ajar slightly to allow Keith to sneak in if he wasn’t immediately caught. 

The section wasn’t nearly as large as the library as a whole, but it was still several long rows of bookshelves. 

“C’mon,” Shayne said, taking the lead to walk deeper into the section. 

They eventually found a blonde haired student sitting in the back of the section with her nose buried deep in a book. She wore thick frames, half hidden from view behind a leather bound book. 

“Miller?” Noah spoke up. The girl looked up, startled and clearly having not expected any sort of human interaction in this area. 

“W-what-“ she slammed the book shut, looking startled and taken aback. “Are you supposed to be here?” she finally demanded after composing herself. 

The three looked at each other. 

“Not... exactly,” Shayne said, sheepishly. “Are you Courtney Miller?”

The blonde girl pushed her thick black frames up the bridge of her nose, frowning still. “Yes. Who’s asking?”

“I’m Shayne. Shayne Topp,” Shayne managed a friendly smile. “I’m a-“

“Gryffindor fourth year,” Courtney finished, with narrowed eyes. “I know who you are. Star chaser. Helped Gryffindor win the Quidditch cup four years in a row.”

Shayne couldn’t hide the surprise in his face. “You keep up with Quidditch?”

Courtney scoffed. “Hardly,” she said. “I just know every student at Hogwarts.”

“But you asked me-“ he began. 

“Your name, yes. Student records don’t come with photographs, you know. Wizards are quite outdated when it comes to that, I’m afraid,” she re-opened her book, as Shayne wondered if she was implying that she’d just happened to have read through- and apparently memorized- the Hogwarts student records as if it were light reading. “If you need something, I’m sure the librarian can help you-“

“Actually,” Noah cut in. “we were looking for you.”

Courtney paused, slowly closing her book again. She looked up directly at him, eyes narrowing intently. “Oh? What for, Noah Grossman?”

Noah opened and closed his mouth a few times, but seemed unable to get anything out or break eye contact. Shayne’s eyes flickered between the two, unsure of what to do. 

Olivia stepped in this time. “We wanted to ask for some advice about passing Divination,” she said, bluntly. “Professor Padilla keeps failing us and whenever we ask why, he just says that we need to follow the stars, or whatever that means.” She rolled her eyes at this part. 

Courtney then turned to look at the other girl, locking eyes immediately. Olivia froze, eyes widening. There was a beat of silence, everyone holding their breath. 

Courtney finally had mercy, breaking eye contact to look at them as a whole. “Maybe Professor Padilla has set you on your path with a specific purpose in mind,” she said, simply.

The three looked at each other again, more doubtful this time. 

“Professor Padilla isn’t...” Olivia hesitated, but they all knew what she was going to say.  _ A seer.  _

That wasn’t to say Padilla didn’t know what he was talking about. He clearly understood Divination and the mind’s eye and all that, but he always admitted to his students on the first day of class that he was not a seer and that the Sight was truly one of the rarest gifts in the universe, so it was highly unlikely any of them even had a slight gift for the mystic arts. 

“Padilla knows how to speak in half-truths,” Courtney mumbled, her attention drawn to her book once more. “Perhaps try looking through some of his family history, and you’ll find what you are seeking.”

That was a clear dismissal if Shayne had ever heard one. 

Olivia scowled, turning to Noah. “I told you this was a waste of time,” she muttered, as they left.

Shayne sighed, watched them leave, and turned back to thank Courtney for her time. When he turned to her, however, she was staring directly at him, locking eye contact. Her eyes were wide and bright green, piercing and intense, like she was staring into his very soul. Shayne had never felt so much like an open book, like Courtney could suddenly tell the whole world every one of his secrets if she so pleased. He suddenly understood Noah and Olivia’s trepidation. It was unnerving, having his soul out in the open like that, but he wasn’t necessarily afraid. He didn’t think he was in harm’s way, nor did he believe Courtney to be the type of person to exploit his secrets. 

She broke eye contact. “Interesting,” she murmured to herself, looking Shayne up head to toe. Finally, she looked back at her book. “Very interesting. I will be seeing you, Shayne Topp.”

Shayne felt a shiver go down his spine, but not from fear, exactly. More... concern. Like something bad was going to happen, and he could feel it in his bones. 

Deeply shaken, he fled the restricted section without another word.

* * *

 

“I’m telling you, it’s a dead end,” Olivia said, flatly, flopping back into the seat in their usual spot at the other side of the library. “I’ll just drop the course at the end of the semester and take muggle studies or something.”

“You don’t think it was a bit weird, though?” Shayne asked, frowning. “Like, super cryptid?”

“Sure, it was weird,” Olivia agreed. “Which is why we should stay the hell away from it. Miller’s just a bookworm. Nothing special.”

Noah was frowning, though. “I kind of agree with Shayne. It can’t hurt to at least look up Professor Padilla’s family history.”

Keith sighed. “I got detention for y’all,” he grumbled. “We best get something outta it.”

With more prodding, Olivia grudgingly agreed. “Fine,” she said, clearly still reluctant. “but how do we look up his history?”

“Hogwarts has plenty of family records,” Shayne said. “Padilla might not be a Family name, but I’m sure we can at least find something to trace him back to.”

It took a few hours of searching through tall shelves and stacks of books and reading through pages and pages of magical families and their histories, but eventually Noah was the one to stumble upon what they were looking for. 

“Look, here,” Noah pointed at his book, excitedly. “Professor Anthony Padilla. That’s his magical bloodline,” he pointed at the black ink. “and that’s his muggle.” He pointed at the red ink. 

“His dad was a muggle,” Shayne pointed out. “So we should probably focus more on the mom’s side.”

“Try finding out more about his mom,” Keith said. “Might be closer to him than we think. Then trace it back more.”

“Here!” Olivia held up her book. “She’s still alive. She was a Healer at St. Mungo’s, but resigned years ago.”

“Look at the date,” Noah pointed out. “Professor Padilla probably would have still been in school.”

There wasn’t much information beyond that. 

“Looks like his whole family on his mom’s side’s from Gryffindor,” Keith said. 

“And he’s an only child,” Shayne added. “No siblings, or cousins. His mom’s family line ends with him, unless he has an heir.”

“But other than that, a dead end,” Noah said, disappointed. “Not much else here.”

“I say we call it a night,” Olivia yawned. “It’s getting late.”

The others murmured their agreements. As they were packing, Shayne made a quick duplicate of the professor’s family tree and slid it into his bag. 

They parted ways, Olivia and Noah to the Hufflepuff dorms, and Keith and Shayne to the Gryffindor tower. 

“G’night, man,” Keith mumbled, climbing the stairs as Shayne waved good night to his friend. He collapsed on the armchair, across from the couch where Damien and Boze were already dozing off. As soon as their barely conscious brains acknowledged his presence, they were both out like a light. Shayne felt a bit bad for not returning earlier, especially since he knew that none of them were really able to fall asleep until they knew the others were safe. 

Shayne pulled out the books he had taken from the library, studying them intently aided only the light from the fireplace. 

He scanned the long list of names and paragraphs worth of history. Something didn’t sit right with him- there was something here he was missing. 

He started with the mother, then their parents, and so on and so forth until he was several direct generations behind. That was when he started noticing a pattern. 

The first born was always female. Always a powerful witch, always disappeared years before her recorded death. It was unsettling, especially given that apparently Professor Padilla has been the only boy born in generations, and the first son first-born for as far back as ancient times. 

The anomaly of a pattern was always the important part, he thought, determinedly. And what did this have to do with Courtney Miller, who was younger than himself, but looked at him like she had lived lifetimes?

The next morning, he had a free period right after breakfast with Boze and Damien. They both had history together, so they dropped him off at the library with a promise to meet up with him again before he and Damien had potions together. 

Shayne marched right into the library and waited outside the Restricted Section for the blonde Ravenclaw to appear. She did, several minutes later, looking unsurprised to see him. 

“Shayne Topp,” Courtney greeted, stopping in front of him. 

“I looked through Padilla’s history, like you told us,” Shayne said, cutting right to the chase. “He’s the first male born in generations. Every first born has been a witch, who disappeared before the age of 30 and died before the age of 50. You know more about this than you’re letting on.”

Courtney quirked her eyebrows. “You didn’t sleep last night,” she said, observantly. 

Shayne scowled at the seemingly random statement. “Yeah, I was reading up on the professor’s history and trying to find the connection.”

Courtney’s mouth twitched upward. “An awful lot of effort to help a couple of students you barely know pass a class they don’t even like.”

Shayne opened and closed his mouth a few times at that, trying to come up with a witty retort, but found he couldn’t even come up with the real reason himself. He had gotten so caught up in the mystery of it all, that he hadn’t even stopped to wonder why he was doing it in the first place. Sure, he had promised his professor to help the younger students, and both Olivia and Noah deserved his best in helping them since he’d made a commitment... but this went beyond that. It was this feeling in his gut that told him that this was the right course of action.

He couldn’t phrase any of that into coherent sentences, but Courtney seemed to understand. She cocked an eyebrow, and said, “Follow me.”

She walked past him and walked into the Restricted Section, past all the books and right to the back corner where he had first spoken to her. 

“Well?” he asked warily, as she sat down. Courtney looked back up at him, but something was wrong. Shayne felt his stomach drop. 

Courtney’s normally green eyes had turned black, like her pupils had dilate so much that it had overtaken her irises. Her usual mannerisms had dropped and were replaced by a stiff spine, squared shoulders, and an empty expression. She opened her mouth to speak, her words floating out like she was merely a puppet for the words to flow out of, rather than the source of the words herself. Her normally airy and soft tone has changed completely, so that her words were harsh and voice monotone.

“ _ The king of fear reborn with the year... The father of the dementors, heir of the lion... only the force of a dozen united will have the power _ .”

Shayne stood, completely frozen in shock and slight terror. When she stopped speaking, Courtney blinked a few times and looked around 

herself, unsure of what was going on. Then, she frowned and looked up at him. He stared at back, speechless and motionless. 

Understanding seemed to dawn on her face. Her eyes were back to normal, and the expressions that painted her face instead of the grave, empty expression of before gave him slight relief. 

“What did I say?” she demanded. 

Shayne managed to find his voice, weakly repeating the words she had spoken to him. 

Courtney nodded slowly, thinking hard. “Right, okay.” She exhaled. “Interesting.” She bit her lip thoughtfully.

Shayne finally managed, “You’re a seer.”

Courtney gave him a look like she thought he was an idiot, which she probably did. “Yeah. Duh. I thought we were past that,” she said, annoyed. “What’s important is the content of what I said.”

Shayne found himself nodding along dumbly. It was clear she was not about to elaborate on her sudden clairvoyance, so he figured it was best to go along with it.

“W-well? What does it mean?” he asked.

Courtney shrugged, pulling a book out of her bag. “Beats me,” she said, nonchalantly. “Better write it down to submit to the ministry later.” She dipped her feather quill in ink and began scratching on a piece of parchment.

Shayne took a deep breath. “You- you made a prophecy.” He breathed, almost in hysterics. “And I was witness to it.”

Courtney cast him a glance in the corner of her eye. “Yes.” She held the quill up to him. “Sign here, please. I need to inform the ministry of who was witness to the prophecy.”

Shayne mindlessly took the quill and signed his name.

“So... what do we do then?” he asked. 

Courtney shrugged. “No clue. I just tell the prophecies, Topp. No control over the future, just predict it. Besides, odds are, the prophecy won’t actually have anything to do with anyone we know or even anyone in this decade. Could be a prophecy for a century down the line for all we know. Don’t freak yourself out about it.” She added this last part when she saw his face. 

“Okay.” He took a deep, calming breath. “What... what were you going to say to me, before the whole... the whole prophecy thing.”

“I was gonna answer any questions you had,” she said, simply. 

Shayne frowned. “Why didn’t you just answer our questions before, when we first approached you?”

“I couldn’t trust you,” she said, bluntly. “I could get a read on you guys generally, but actions tend to speak far more than thoughts and words.”

_ Thoughts?  _ Shayne narrowed his eyes. 

Courtney’s lips twitched again. “Yeah, thoughts.”

“You’re a natural legilimens,” Shayne realized. “That’s- that’s so rare. Less so than being a seer, obviously, but-“

“Knowing my family background makes it make sense,” she said. 

“I thought you were muggleborn.”

“I am,” Courtney agreed. “My parents are muggles, but we always knew I was a bit off. When I came to Hogwarts, I thought, this must be it. This is what made me different. I was half right, because when I came here, I realized I was still different from everyone else. There was something else. At the end of my first year, I spoke my first prophecy.”

Shayne’s eyes widened. “Isn’t the Sight genetic?” He realized. 

Courtney nodded. “Yeah, I was fortunate enough that I’d spoken the prophecy in an empty corridor, the only witness being a professor.”

“Professor Padilla,” Shayne guessed. 

“Yeah,” Courtney confirmed. “He took me to the Headmaster, and he gave me access to the Restricted Section so I could do research about my abilities. Professor Padilla helped, since he was obviously the most knowledgeable about my abilities. Neither could figure out how I could be a seer and also be muggleborn, so we did a blood test. Turns out, I’m a descendent of some squib cast out of their wizarding family several generations ago.”

Suddenly, it clicked. Shayne’s eyes widened. “You’re related to Professor Padilla?”

“Yeah,” Courtney nodded. “His family was cursed with the Sight. It passed down from mother to daughter, ever generation, without fail, since ancient times. With age, their magic grows more volatile and their visions become more frequent and they start to remember the predictions. It drives them insane. The professor’s mother hasn’t left her home since he graduated Hogwarts. Most of the women in his family eventually kill themselves, driven insane by their own knowledge of the future.” Her eyes were dark now, voice growing grave. 

Shayne was horrified. “That’s... terrible.” He could barely muster words. “But... what about...” He couldn’t finish his sentence. 

“Me?” Courtney filled in. “That’s the anomaly. Padilla was different. Since he was not born a girl, he didn’t receive the Sight, not exactly. He’s strangely good at guessing and has better luck at those guess how many Bertie Botts are in this jar games, but other than that, he isn’t a seer. We’re not positive, but the professor’s theory is that since he’s not a daughter, nor does he have any sisters or cousins on his mother’s side, that the curse had to fall on the closest of kin who had magic and was a girl.”

Shayne felt dread in his chest. “But... that’s just a theory, right?” he said. “The curse might not... it might not apply.” He winced, knowing how weak it sounded even to himself. 

Courtney shrugged. “I suppose. We won’t know until then, will we? Not much I can do until then.”

Shayne had to hand it to Courtney. She had the knowledge that she would probably go insane before she could even have a midlife crisis, and would probably die before she could see grandchildren, yet she was clearly flippant about the whole thing. Though, if they had discovered this when she was a first year, it was no wonder she was as calm as she was about it not. She had had a long time to accept it, however troubling the realization was. 

He thought about what he was doing when Courtney was going through this. He would’ve been twelve, going on thirteen. His biggest concern was winning the Gryffindor Quidditch cup, and beating out Damien as top of their class. He was hanging out with Boze and Damien, pulling pranks, serving detentions, playing quidditch, studying for finals. In hindsight, it not only felt so inconsequential to what he witnessed at the end of their third year and what he’d been through this year alone, but also in comparison to what Courtney had to deal with. 

“I’ll drive myself crazy earlier than I’m destined to if I think about it more,” she said, softly. Shayne looked at her again, suddenly aware or the vulnerability in her eyes. “I’ve just gotta keep going, and make the best of it while I still can. That’s the thing about being on borrowed time, Shayne Topp. You grow to appreciate the little things in life.”

Shayne couldn’t find a response to that, so instead he said, “So when we first met, and you looked at me, you saw-“

“Everything.” Courtney nodded, eyes soft. “Yeah.”

Suddenly, Shayne’s heart rate picked up. “So you know everything we’re trying to do about Flitz-“ before he could even finish his statement, Courtney cut him off. 

“I’m not helping you,” she said.

Shayne deflated. “But- with your abilities, and intelligence-“

“No,” Courtney said, resolutely. “I’m sorry, you’re going to have to seek help elsewhere.”

Shayne took a deep breath. “Look, I won’t push you,” he began. “But hear me out.”

Courtney looked at him curiously, but nodded to allow him to continue. 

“I think-“ Shayne paused, trying to gather his thoughts as things began to click into place. “I think Professor Padilla pushed us here.”

Courtney’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?”

Shayne nodded furiously, his mind going a mile a minute. Suddenly everything made sense- Courtney’s explanation of how the divination professor’s Sight worked, why he was failing Olivia and Noah and specifically asked Shayne to help tutor them. Then they had just so happened to bring up Courtney, but had been pushed to actually speak to her by Keith and Shayne. It looked completely coincidental, almost a little too perfect, now that Shayne thought about it. Meeting Courtney, convincing her to speak to him just in time for him to hear her speak an ominous sounding prophecy? 

Shayne tried to voiced his thoughts, borderline rambling while trying to not sound like an insane conspiracy theorist. Courtney listened patiently, eyes narrowing with interest. Shayne probably didn’t explain it well, but she could literally see his thoughts, so he figured it would probably be as close to accurate as possible. 

“I think he’s set up the dominoes,” Shayne finished. “We just need to be the ones to give it a little push, now.”

Courtney was quiet for a long moment, before she finally stood up. “I’ll send you a note later. Bring your friends.” Then, she disappeared from the Restricted Section. 

* * *

**December 22nd**

Shayne didn’t tell anyone about Courtney. There were rumors that she was a seer, but if she wanted it out there, she would confirm it herself; he wasn’t about to air out anyone’s laundry. 

He did, however, tell Keith to go on without him after Divination ended so he could talk to Professor Padilla alone. 

He waited patiently for the rest of the class to file out, allowing the trapdoor to close and the older man to turn and look at him. 

“What can I do for you, Shayne?” He asked, cheerfully as usual. Padilla was usually a good-natured teacher, cracking jokes in class and making the subject far more interesting than it actually was. 

Shayne paused, wondering why he hadn’t come up with what he was going to say beforehand. “I- um,” he swallowed. “I was talking to Courtney, recently, and I-“

Understanding dawned on his face immediately. As quickly as the expression appeared, however, it also disappeared just as fast. He smiled pleasantly. “That’s nice, she’s a good student, and I’m sure Noah and Olivia’s grades will be picking back up with your, Keith’s, and Courtney’s help,” he said, fairly.

“I never said anything about Keith,” Shayne said, casually. 

Padilla gave him a little grin. “Lucky guess.”

* * *

**December 23rd**

“What’s this about?” Mari crossed her arms, looking up at Shayne from their usual spot at the Gryffindor table. “We need to catch the train home soon.”

It was the last day of the semester. Mari, Joven, and Sohinki were all headed home soon for the holidays, but Shayne, Damien, and Boze had elected to stay. Boze never wanted to go home, Damien was concerned with how to deal with his mother and sister, and Shayne was still unsure of how to be around his mother knowing the ministry’s failings in regards to Flitz’s death. (When he was feeling particularly cynical, he couldn’t help but wonder if it really was because of all of the red tape the upper ministry officials were placing around Flitz’s death, or if his own mother was one of those officials in the first place.) Besides, none of them really wanted to test out what would happen if they all separated again. 

“Yeah, you said you wanted us all to sit together this morning?” Sohinki added, confused. Even Boze and Damien looked curious, since Shayne hadn’t even told them exactly what he was planning. 

“Well, for the past month, we’ve been stuck at a dead end in our investigation, but I’ve brought someone who I think will help us find what really happened to Flitz,” Shayne said, gesturing to Courtney as she approached them. “This is Courtney Miller. She’s a third year Ravenclaw, and is also a legilimens and…” he trailed off, and cast Courtney a hesitant look.

She lifted her chin, eyeing Shayne’s friends. “I’m also a seer.”

All their eyes turned to the blonde, intrigue in their eyes. She looked between the group and Shayne a little nervously, eyes blinking owlishly at him. He gave her an encouraging smile, before addressing the group again. “I heard her speak a prophecy earlier yesterday, and I think it might have something to do with the thing that killed Flitz...”

The group devolved into deep conversation, filling in Courtney with everything they had learned up until this point and her adding in other bits of information to fill in their gaps of knowledge, as well as repeat the prophecy Shayne had witnessed the other day. Their voices were muddled behind the loud cacophony of other students around them as they filed in for breakfast. 

With his one action, this single decision, Shayne pushed the first domino, setting up a chain reaction so complex that not even a Seer could see the full extent of the consequences. 

From the head table, Professor Padilla smiled.

* * *

 

_ Five Years Ago, December 21 _

_ Shayne absolutely hated the Winter Solstice Ball. He never liked going, but especially now that both his brothers were at Hogwarts, it would be more boring this year than ever. Not to mention, more lonely than ever.  _

_ The Winter Solstice Ball was the annual formal event for the pure-bloods of high society to come and pretend to socialize while gossiping about the people on the other side of the room. Even at age nine, Shayne knew this all too well.  _

_ As the son of a famous Quidditch player and the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, he was expected to act proper amongst his parents’ peers and colleagues. He, along with the other underage sons and daughters, were usually ushered off to some separate room before the ball formally started. Unlike the previous years, when he could stick close to his brothers and talk with their friends, he found himself quietly sitting in the corner of the room, watching his peers try their hand at finessing one another, forming connections and striking alliances. They all knew their place- this wasn’t a place to make friends, it was a place to make allies. It was a place to spread lies about your family’s enemy and stab your once-allies in the back, all the while wearing a fake smile on your face. The very thought of it made Shayne sick to his stomach. He was content to sit quietly and politely turn away anyone who tried to engage with him until the night was over. He could sit and watch the Bozeman girl scoff at the Diamond’s heir, or eavesdrop on Church while he spread rumors about the Johnson’s second son, who was so distracted by keeping an eye on the rest of his siblings that he didn’t even notice.  _

_ Shayne could have spent the rest of the night like this, until a boy came over. He didn’t stick his hand obnoxiously in front of him, or give him a smarmy smile, or even try to grab his attention. The boy, who looked to be about his age, merely sat quietly beside him.  _

_ Shayne turned his head slightly to get a better look. Normally, Shayne recognized everyone at these parties. His parents always ensured he knew the other pure-blood heirs around his age, so the fact that this boy was completely unfamiliar was strange for Shayne.  _

_ “Is this your first time at the Winter Solstice Ball?” Shayne found himself asking. The boy looked up, a bit startled, as if he hadn’t expected Shayne to engage him.  _

_ “Oh- yes. My mother and I just moved here. She thought it would be good meet people... she used to attend these balls when she was a child,” the boy said.  _

_ “Not missing out on too much,” Shayne said, simply. “These parties are just an excuse to dress up and talk.” _

_ The boy laughed a bit. “Everything adults do is just an excuse to dress up and talk,” he pointed out, which caused Shayne to laugh as well.  _

_ Shayne opened his mouth to respond, but a woman suddenly entered the room. She was looking directly at them.  _

_ “Damien,” she said, sharply. “It’s time to go.” _

_ The boy- Damien- pushed himself off the seat. “Already?” he asked, confusedly.  _

_ The woman walked over briskly, taking Damien by the hand. “Yes,” she said, simply. “Time to go home.” _

_ Damien hesitated, then looked back at Shayne apologetically. “Sorry. Nice to meet you.” _

_ “Nice to meet you too,” Shayne returned. The two disappeared from the room.  _

_ The rest of the night played out as expected. He ate dinner, was forced to dance with some random pure-blood girl, and was paraded around as the youngest son to the Topp family line. He had to withstand the fake cooing from high status women and the cheek pinching from distant relatives. All in all, it sucked. By the end of the night, he was exhausted. His eyes were getting heavy as his parents and him walked out of the manor and to the apparition point.  _

_ His ears suddenly perked up, catching the tail end of his parents’ conversation.  _

_ “Poor woman,” his mother was saying. “It’ll take her time to regain her family’s status back.” _

_ “It would be easier if she dropped her ex-husband’s name,” his father said. “The name Haas has no power here. The boy will get nothing out of it.” _

_ “I can understand why she would want to keep the name, even if it does make things more difficult for her.” His mother sighed. “They shouldn’t have forced her and her son to leave, though.” _

_ “It wasn’t our call, dear. If they are unwelcome in the eyes of the host, it’s at their discretion,” his father replied.  _

_ They reached the apparition point, at which time the conversation stopped. Still, Shayne’s mind was filing through the new information. The boy’s name was Damien Haas. They were unwelcome by the Smith Family, who had been hosting the Winter Solstice Ball, which mean they were unlikely to be welcome for the next solstice balls until someone decided they were of high enough status.  _

_ That at least explains why they had to leave, Shayne thought, frowning. He thought about the woman, the firm way she held herself up and the elegance in her step. She was a woman of high status, and she would not be treated like anything less.  _

_ Somehow, Shayne figured it wouldn’t be the last they heard of the Haas Family.  _


	13. Chapter 13 - Olivia

**January 7th**

Olivia let out a yawn, settling into her usual seat next to Noah in Divination.

“I’m too tired,” she whined.

Noah snorted a bit. “That’s because you were up all night reading.” He laughed.

Olivia shrugged, not denying it. “I was re-reading that book my mom got me.”

Noah nodded, immediately knowing what she was talking about. “Again?” he teased. “What is this, like the fifth time?”

“It talks a lot about the achievements in alchemy made by famous alchemists,” Olivia defended. “The first transmutations, the creation of the Philosopher’s stone...” she trailed off, as Professor Padilla had begun passing out their graded homework assignments they’d turned in the first day back from winter break almost two weeks ago. 

He handed her the roll of parchment and smiled a little mischievously. 

“Nicely done, Olivia,” Padilla said, then moved on. 

Olivia glanced through the assignment. A bright red O was marked at the top of the page. She looked up to see Noah grinning at his own essay. 

“This is great!” Noah said, in relief. “We really should’ve just asked Courtney for help earlier.”

Olivia shrugged. “I doubt she would have agreed if Shayne hadn’t convinced her to help,” she said. 

“You’re probably right,” Noah agreed, still smiling a bit. 

After she and Noah had left the library in frustration, resigned to dropping the class to take some other elective, Courtney had approached them the next day with pointers on how to write a better homework assignment and how to relate divination to astronomy, a subject Olivia much preferred over many others. Lo and behold, they took her advice to heart over the break, and came back to see that their grades began improved drastically. They continued to meet up with the strange Ravenclaw once in a while, mostly for quick explanations of divination concepts and ideas. 

“Courtney!” Noah waved the blonde over as she entered the classroom silently. She had been heading to her usual spot in the back of the class, but turned to look at them when she heard her name. “Come sit with us.”

Olivia cocked an eyebrow at Noah, matching Courtney’s expression of confusion. Nonetheless, she approached them cautiously.

“Good morning,” Noah greeted, with a friendly smile. “Didn’t see you at breakfast today.”

Courtney blinked. “I- uh- usually spend it in the library.” Her voice was soft and unsure, eyes flickering between Noah and Olivia hesitantly. She wavered where she stood, hands wringing uncomfortably. 

“You can sit, you know,” Olivia said, surprising even herself. Courtney looked at her with wide eyes, but slowly sat on the third cushion next to their shared table. 

“Thanks for helping us, again,” Noah said, happily, as Courtney pulled her bag off her shoulder. “We’re finally doing well in this class.” He gestured to his essay, which was also marked by a bright red letter O.

Courtney looked sheepish. “It’s no problem.”

Olivia opened her mouth to also throw in her own awkward thanks, but Professor Padilla stood up and started class, saving her the awkwardness. 

“Okay, today we will be reading tea leaves,” Padilla said, cheerfully. He had a tray full of tea cups, and began passing each one out. “Finish your tea, then try to analyze your tea leaves using your textbooks. For the rest of class, talk to your partners and discuss how the reading may impact you and your future, then you can start your homework, which is to write your thoughts about your tea leaves.”

Olivia took her tea cup and began sipping it cautiously, blowing lightly at it when she realized it was a bit too hot. Courtney and Noah followed suit, the three sipping their tea quietly until it was gone. 

Noah pulled out his textbook. “I’ll go first, I guess,” he said, and Courtney and Olivia nodded. 

He squinted at his tea cup, trying to decipher the shapes. “I think- I think I see a dog. That seems good, right?”

“Where?” Courtney asked, instead. 

“Right here.” Noah gestured to the rim of the cup. 

Courtney nodded. “Yeah, that means faithful friends.”

Noah smiled at that. “That’s reassuring."

Courtney suddenly frowned, still looking at the tea cup. Noah caught her expression, and frowned as well. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked. 

Courtney looked up at him, blinking a bit, and hesitated. “Well... that bit sort of looks like a club.” She pointed to the bottom of the cup. 

“What’s that mean?” Olivia asked, warily. 

Courtney hesitated again. “Well, I mean,” she stammered. “Tea readings are not the most accurate, keep in mind, and- and the shapes are often left up to interpretation-“ she tried to say, but Noah was already skimming the textbook. His finger trailed along the page, until it suddenly stopped. 

“A club is representative of, quote, ‘an attack,’” Noah said, looking mildly perturbed. 

Olivia felt a chill, suddenly, but she could see the slight concern in Noah’s face. It could nothing, really, so there was no reason to worry him. 

“An attack could mean anything,” she pointed out. “Doesn’t have to be physical. Maybe someone beats you at wizard’s chess- that whole game is an attack technically.”

Noah look a little unsure still, but mostly reassured. “You’re probably right. Anyways, what did you get?”

Olivia looked at her own tea cup, trying to make sense of the random blobs of shapes. “I think that’s an- apple? No, more like an acorn I think.”

They both looked at Courtney this time. She looked relieved. 

“It represents unexpected gold,” she said, her voice no longer sounding tense.

Olivia smiled. “Huh, that’s good luck. There’s also a cross in here, I think. Doesn’t that mean suffering?”

Noah nodded thoughtfully. “So... you’ll get rich, but also suffer?”

“They do say money can’t buy happiness,” Olivia said, mostly unbothered by the reading. “What about you, Courtney?”

The other girl peeked at her tea cup. Her face flickered with something, before her expression smoothed out. “Looks like a mountain, to me,” she said, simply. “And a bird. So a journey, and good news soon.”

“That’s not a bad fortune,” Noah said, smiling.

Courtney shrugged nonchalantly. “Guess so,” she said, a bit distractedly. They settled into silence, starting their essays until the period ended. 

Courtney stood up quickly, shoving her things haphazardly into her bag. “I need to go,” she said, a bit jittery. She looked between the exit and Noah and Olivia. “Thanks for letting me sit here.” Then, she disappeared. 

“Huh,” Noah murmured. “She seems to be opening up a bit,” he noted, as he closed his textbook and slid it back into his bag.

“Doubt it,” Olivia said, simply, and held up Courtney’s tea cup, which remained abandoned at their table. She squinted at it and said, “She lied.”

They left the classroom in a hurry, Noah on her heels as they sped to the library. 

“What was it?” he demanded, breathing heavily as he caught up to her. “What did you see?”

Olivia sat down, and pulled out her own book. “She didn’t just see a bird, she saw a falcon.” She pointed at the description of a falcon. 

“A persistent enemy?” Noah read, doubtfully. “Maybe she just didn’t know it was specifically a falcon. It looks difficult to decipher between a regular bird and a falcon.”

“She’s a genius, and the top of the class,” Olivia argued. “If anyone would know the difference, it’d be her. I also saw a skull.”

“That represents danger.” Noah’s eyebrows shot up. “You think she’s in trouble?”

“Maybe,” Olivia said. “But then why didn’t she want us to know?”

“She’s a loner, Liv,” Noah pointed out. “We only just started talking to her, like, a couple weeks ago.”

Olivia had to admit he had a good point, but something felt off. 

“Or maybe,” Olivia said, darkly, “she doesn’t want us knowing that the danger is actually her.”

Noah frowned at her. “I really don’t think so, Olivia. She seems pretty harmless.”

“I don’t know.” Olivia shook her head. “She gives me these weird vibes every time I see her.”

Noah sighed. “I don’t know, she probably just didn’t want to worry anyone. I mean, my tea leaves were ominous, and she probably just didn’t want to freak me out about hers. Besides, these things aren’t the most accurate readings of the future. It could mean anything.”

Olivia fell silent for a moment. 

“Maybe we don’t know enough about tessomancy,” she said, finally.

“Keith mentioned that it was his favorite part of divination,” Noah suggested. “Maybe we should ask him what he thinks.”

Olivia found herself nodding. “That’s probably a good idea.”

“He’s probably headed to the Great Hall now,” Noah said, checking his watch. “Keith’s got a free period now.”

Olivia quickly packed up her books and hurried to follow Noah down the corridor to the Great Hall. They only had to wait a moment before Keith appeared in her line of vision, along with Shayne, a Hufflepuff she recognized from a year above her, and an unfamiliar Ravenclaw. 

“Oh, hey, Olivia, Noah,” Keith greeted, arching a confused brow. “What’s up?”

“Noah and I wanted to ask you something,” Olivia said, a little urgently. She cast a suspicious look at the unfamiliar students. “Privately.”

Keith looked confused still, but shrugged. “Yeah sure,” he said, then turned to his friends. “Don’t wait up.”

“Sure thing, Keith,” the short Hufflepuff girl said. 

“I’ll save you a spot in potions,” Shayne added, but was looking at Noah and Olivia with a curious look. The three retreated into the Great Hall, leaving Olivia, Noah, and Keith. 

“What’s up?” he asked, nonchalant but curious. 

Noah jerked his head a bit to the side. “We should go somewhere more private,” he suggested, and Olivia nodded. 

“Sure,” Keith agreed, confusedly. The three walked away from the Great Hall until the crowds of students began to dwindle and they were left in an empty corridor. 

“We were working with Courtney during divination today,” Olivia said. “Doing tea readings, and she lied to us about her tea leaves. I looked at it, and we were hoping you could... tell us more about tessomancy, in general.”

Keith raised his eyebrows. “Well, it’s a real sketchy way to predict your future, for one thing. Accurate, but never in the way you may think.”

Noah gave Olivia an “I told you so” sort of look. She glared back at her friend. 

“Something about Courtney... is different,” Olivia insisted. “I don’t know what it is.”

“Is it a bad vibe?” Keith asked. 

_No, not bad,_ Olivia thought. But like she understood Olivia in a way no one else ever would. Like she could pick apart Olivia’s every secret and thought and let it all air out like dirty laundry. 

She shook her head. “No, not quite. Just... different.”

Noah and Keith both gave her looks of confusion as Olivia trailed off, trying to find the words to describe what she felt. 

Vulnerable? Open? Kinship? A connection? The way Courtney read her soul like she could read a book, but it didn’t make her feel uncomfortable, per se. It was like a piece of the puzzle was missing, and without it, she wouldn’t be able to fully describe the picture. 

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t have much time to react when Keith said, “Is it getting cold in here, or is it just me?”

Olivia blinked. Keith was right, it was getting chilly. But not like there was a draft, which was not unusual in some parts of Hogwarts. It was like the temperature had dropped, chilling her to her very core. A kind of cold that lulled people to a permanent sleep. Olivia’s eyes drooped unwillingly. Her muscles suddenly slackened, and she couldn’t hold herself up anymore. Like gravity was yanking her down, she fell to her knees, trying to hold herself up weakly. It was like she was trying to move through honey. She forced her eyes to open and focus on Keith and Noah, neither of whom were in much better positions than herself. Keith was leaning half on the wall, struggling to keep his eyes open, while Noah was already on the ground, weakly trying to push himself up. 

“What’s-“ Olivia slurred, forcing the words out of her mouth with difficulty. “What’s going on?”

The corridor darkened. She thought she might be hallucinating the shadows that began to close in on them and the fog that began obscuring her vision even more if it weren’t for the sudden feeling of despair and sheer fear. The feeling choked her, wrapping itself around every thought and blocking any attempt to push it away. It tightened around her heart and pulled her down. She could barely breathe, it felt like a pressure that wouldn’t ease up on her chest. Through heavy eyelids, she could see the shadows enclosing around Noah, but she couldn’t scream. She couldn’t speak. She couldn’t make a sound. 

_ Noah _ ... Olivia’s eyes slipped shut as the darkness forcefully pulled her away from the land of the living.

* * *

 

**January 10th**

The brightness was not the unusual part of waking up. The Hufflepuff dorms always had sunlight streaming in first thing in the morning, so she was rather used to waking up to light after three years.

What was unusual was the amount of strangers sitting at her bedside, waiting for her to wake up. She could hear voices, but her eyes opened before her brain could even process the words. 

“-you’ve woken her up now, Joven!” the purple haired Gryffindor girl said, from her left. 

“Why do you always blame me?” a Slytherin boy demanded, beside the girl. He was a little shorter than the girl, but only by an inch. 

“It’s always you,” a Ravenclaw boy sighed in response. 

Olivia opened her mouth to speak, and the girl hushed the boys quickly. “Noah?” Her voice croaked with disuse. 

The girl handed her a glass of water. 

Too confused to protest, Olivia took it gratefully. She sipped it as quickly yet carefully as possible. Her hands were shaking. 

“Olivia, do you remember anything?” the girl asked. 

Olivia’s hands shook a bit more. Her eyes flickered between the strangers. “Who are you?” she asked, instead. “Where’s Noah? And Keith?”

The girl pulled back the curtain a bit. Keith was laying in the bed next to hers, still unconscious. Shayne, and the two students she had seen him with before, were also there. They looked at her curiously until the girl let the curtain drop again, obscuring the four from her view again. 

“Noah’s... at St. Mungo’s,” the girl said, carefully. 

Olivia inhaled sharply. “What- what for?” she demanded, heart hammering in her chest. 

The Slytherin stepped in this time. “Magical exhaustion,” he said, then got nudged by his friend. “OW! What?” He glared, rubbing his ribs. “She deserves the truth.”

“She just woke up after three days of being in a magically induced coma,” the Ravenclaw scolded. 

“I’m Mari, by the way,” the girl said, ignoring the two boys. “We're all fifth years. That’s Joven,” she pointed at the Slytherin, “and that’s Sohinki.” She pointed at the Ravenclaw. 

“We wanted to ask you about what happened,” Sohinki added. “If that’s okay.”

Olivia crossed her arms. “Only if you tell me what you know about Noah.”

“Of course,” Mari agreed, gently. “Don’t worry, he’s in good hands. What can you tell us about the attack?”

Olivia’s mind was going a mile a minute. “Attack?” she demanded. ”You mean... that wasn’t just a freak accident?”

Yet even as she said it, she felt foolish. Of course it wasn’t just a freak accident. The shadows, the cold, the feeling of dread. Like she-

“Would never be happy again,” she murmured. 

Mari’s eyes flashed with something. “What did you say?” she asked, sharply. 

“That’s what I felt,” Olivia said, louder this time. She looked up at the three older students. “There were these shadows, it was pulling me down like a blanket I couldn’t get out of. All I could feel was dread. And- and it was so cold. Unbelievably cold. It just drained me of all my energy, and suddenly I couldn’t move. I couldn’t even stand, or speak. And then the shadows started surrounding Noah...” she trailed off, and choked on a sob that escaped her throat. Olivia blinked several times, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to fall. “What happened?” she asked, brokenly, looking up at the three strangers. 

Mari took a deep breath, and looked around to her friends. Sohinki and Joven nodded. 

“She deserves to know,” Sohinki said, face grim. 

Mari nodded and turned back to her. “We think...” She paused. “We think the thing that attacked you is the same thing that killed our friend, Flitz.”

Olivia swallowed, feeling her stomach drop. She had heard about the boy who had died last spring; everyone had. Other than what Professor Todd had told them, however, there wasn’t much information about it. She’d heard rumors that he’d drowned, or the grindylows got to him, or that he’d even been murdered by another student...

But that- that  _ thing _ that had attacked her, Noah, and Keith, had also been the one to kill that Gryffindor student? A monster was out there, had killed a student, and was still looking to hurt someone. The thought made her tremble. 

Mari continued. “Courtney’s the one who found you guys. She said she had a bad feeling, and took Damien and Shayne to come find you guys. Boze got us, and we got there a minute later.”

_ A bad feeling? _ Olivia wondered, but Mari barreled on before she could voice her thoughts. 

“The thing disappeared as soon as she appeared. You and Keith were unconscious, and Noah was-“ Mari stopped. 

“Noah was what?” Olivia demanded. 

Mari swallowed. “Courtney said if we hadn’t gotten there when we did, he might not have made it,” she admitted. 

Olivia’s fingers tightened around her sheets.

“But he’s okay, right?” she asked, softly. 

Mari nodded. “Yeah, I heard he’s doing fine.”

Olivia nodded a bit. She fell quiet for a moment, before asking, “So where do you come into this?” She looked at the three. 

“We’re investigating Flitz’s death,” Joven explained, face darkening. “We believed it to be a dementor, but from what you described- it may be worse. And we thought- we think- that you guys can help us. Justice for Flitz- and for Noah- and we make sure this never happens to anyone else.”

Olivia felt her hands tremble even more. “That thing-“ she took a deep breath. “Whatever that thing was, it killed your friend, attacked us, and hurt Noah?”

They nodded. 

Olivia grit her teeth. “I’ll help you anyway I can,” she said, firmly, causing instant looks of mild surprise and relief in the three’s faces.

“You should get some rest first,” Mari said, with a small smile. “Your magic isn’t as exhausted as Noah’s, but you should remain in bed for a while.”

“Thinking about being a healer?” Olivia asked, smiling a bit weakly back. 

Mari laughed a bit, but didn’t reply. 

“How are you guys here, anyways?” Olivia asked, curiously. “Madame Pam is usually very strict about visitors in the hospital wing.” She recalled last year when she’d been injured in a match against Slytherin- the fiery witch had kicked out her entire team and only let Noah stay while she was mending her bones. 

Suddenly, the three looked incredibly sheepish.

“Well-“ Sohinki sputtered. 

“We- er-“ Joven rubbed the back of his neck. 

“We sort of-“ Mari started, but the doors suddenly burst open in the hospital wing. Madame Pam stormed in, wand out and face furious.

Mari, Joven, and Sohinki paled. 

“Uh oh,” she heard a Shayne mutter from the other side of the curtain.

“Locking me out of my own hospital wing!” she screamed. “The gall of you six!”

“Sorry, Madame Pam.” The Ravenclaw boy Olivia saw stepped out from behind the other curtain so she could see him. His face looked ashamed, but also saddened. “We just wanted to make sure our friends, Keith and Olivia, were okay. We- we can’t even visit Noah- and we knew that they’d be really worried about him too.” 

Olivia’s eyebrows shot up. She didn’t even know this boy’s  _ name _ . The acting was impressive, and the sniff was pretty believable but there’s no way Madame Pam would buy it-

“Oh.” The older woman softened, to Olivia’s astonishment. “Alright, I won’t send you straight to Professor Todd’s office. But get out of my sight and stop bothering my patients!”

Olivia quickly closed her gaping mouth as the six scurried out of the room with muttered, “Sorry Madame Pam!”’s and a “Thanks, Pam!”

“It’s Madame Pam to you, Mister Topp!” she shouted, as the Gryffindor ran out of the hospital wing with the others. Olivia could’ve sworn she saw the Ravenclaw and Shayne fist bump on the way out. 

Madame Pam let out a sigh and turned back to Olivia. 

“Don’t get involved with those troublemakers,” she said, only half jokingly, as she picked up a few different potions bottles from the cabinets and walked toward Olivia’s bed. 

“Oh,” Olivia sighed, taking one of the offered potions bottles. She could feel a headache coming on already. “Somehow I don’t think I have a choice.”

* * *

 

**_August 6, Three Years Ago_ **

_ Olivia obediently raised her arms, allowing the older witch to measure her torso with a floating measuring tape. She murmured to herself, her quill jotting down frantic notes before she bustled to the back of the store.  _

_ She sighed, and looked around. The shop was small, and there was only one other person in the room. Her mom had left her to get her robes fitted so she could run a few errands in the apothecary, so her only companion was the small boy on the other side, also quietly waiting for his robes to be finished.  _

_ “Going to Hogwarts?” the boy asked, suddenly.  _

_ Olivia nodded. “Yeah, first year.” _

_ “Me too.” The boy offered her a small, awkward smile. _

_ “Do you know what house you’ll be in?” Olivia asked.  _

_ The boy looked at a loss. “House?” _

_ “Yeah, Hogwarts house. You know, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Slytherin, and Hufflepuff,” Olivia explained.  _

_ The boy’s eyes brightened in recognition. “Oh, yeah, Professor Hecox mentioned those.” Then, he shrugged. “Not sure. What about you?” _

_ “Maybe Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff,” Olivia said. “My mom was a Ravenclaw, but most of my family’s been in Hufflepuff.” _

_ “They sound kind of nice,” the boy said, smiling still. “Maybe we’ll be in the same house.” _

_ “Maybe,” Olivia agreed, small smile lifting at the corners of her mouth.  _

_ The bell to the shop rang, causing Olivia to look up to see her mother. At the same time, the witch returned from the backroom, holding a neat pile of plain black robes.  _

_ “Here you go, dear.” She handed the stack to her mother, who gave her a few galleons in return.  _

_ As they were leaving the shop, Olivia suddenly turned around to look at the boy. “I forgot to say. I’m Olivia. What’s your name?” _

_ The boy’s face brightened. “Nice to meet you, Olivia. My name’s Noah.” _

_ Olivia smiled back. “I’ll see you at Hogwarts, Noah.” _


End file.
